24

Ok I must confess that 24, in my opinion, is the best show ever. Seinfield might be the funniest and there a few really cool sci-fi shows out there, but 24 is the all around best show I've ever seen.

Anyway, I was watching an espisode from season 5 on DVD last night (I own seasons 1 through 5) and something strange happened in one of the scenes. The president and his aid did something I would never have expected in a hit show like 24. It blew my mind, but they actually prayed! I couldn't believe this. I thought, well certainly the show will mock this somehow, but it was a very sincere, intense & emotion scene.

If you're a fan of 24 then you know it's none stop problems and issues for the characters to overcome. Jack (the protagonist) almost always makes the seemingly best decision. Others either follow his lead, exist in a grey area (struggle with doubt and making the right decision) or are bad. The president, in season 5, is in the grey area, unlike the previous president who was more of a Jack type of character. This current president is also not a strong leader and struggles with decision making.

There came a point in this particular episode where the president had to choose between his wife's life and the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands. He was torn and decided to choose the greater lives over his wife's. However, unexpectedly, in a moment of turmoil, he decided to pray and he asked his aid to join him. The two men then kneeled and prayed. Of course viewers aren't privy to their prayers as the camera cuts away just after they kneel. I don't know why, but this really touched me. Of course it would've been cool if the show had portrayed the previous strong/moral president praying over major incidents and issues, instead of this weaker president. However, I was touched by the sincere emotional intensity of this prayer scene and encouraged that even though God wasn't mentioned He was strongly implied.

I guess this also got me to thinking about how God is glorified in our weakness. This made this scene all the more real to me. This scene illustrates well the relationship God seems to most often have with man. We don't turn to Him unless there is no other way out and there is seemingly no good solution. Those who are seemingly strong and independent never turn to Him because they believe their own strength is sufficient. It actually makes sense that a weaker indecisive man would turn to God in a time of crisis, when all other avenues turn up nothing.

Maybe I'm reading more into this then I should, but it was encouraging none the less that my favorite TV show acknowledge God as a savior in some fashion, even if only implied.