Holding on to our History


"It was about the bridge representing progress and the lighthouse feeling like it wasn't going to be needed or wanted." -Cara, "God Friended Me"

Progress is a wonderful and necessary thing. I was reading a book about generations, and how the Traditionalists (those born before 1945) moved from the country to the city, building the modern, city-focused country we have today. One of the reasons for that was that they wanted this new invention of indoor plumbing. That's just one reason I feel grateful when I think about progress.

We have to progress in our lives, too. For relationships to progress, we have to be on the same page and open our lives up. For us to progress in our work, we have to learn new skills and be honest about what we can do. And to progress in our world, often what existed before has to go away. Those are the themes that are interwoven in last night's episode of "God Friended Me."

But at the heart of "Miracle on 123rd Street" was the idea of family. And that doesn't just mean the family you're born into, but the family you choose. Mile (Brandon Michael Hall), Cara (Violet Beane), and Rakesh (Suraj Sharma) are family. Arthur (Joe Morton) and his Congregation are a family. And the people that lived in the building that was at the heart of tonight's case are a kind of family.

And as Miles put so beautifully, "If you're lucky, the family you have and the family you find become one and the same."

I also liked the brother-and-sister theme in the case of the week, and how it moved into and exploration of Miles and his own sister, Ali (Javicia Leslie), who is sometimes the forgotten character in this show.

Of course, the show also took another step toward a possible connection with Miles and Cara, and also saw Rakesh move into a new position, which could lead down a new God Account rabbit trail. As I've noted often, that doesn't interest me as much, but I sense the makers of the show see it as essential. Miles podcast within a show experienced an audience bump mostly from those dying to know who is running the God Account.I felt like it was a little show within a show justification for the storyline and the ongoing mystery. My only other thought is it probably is a mystery they're not in a hurry to solve.

We've seen 13 episodes so far, and the show is doing a full season so we have some more to go this season (though not for the next couple weeks). This wasn't the best or deepest episode, but like the whole journey of this show, it was sweet, emotional, and beautiful. And sometimes, that's what we all need in our leisure time.

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