Episode 2 Reflections

EPISODE 2: A BIG ENOUGH BOAT


As Lent begins, WE, like the characters, stand around a fire and ask ourselves, “What next?”
We recall that every Lent is a journey. We know in our bones that whatever lies ahead will be arduous; it will demand sacrifice, privation and suffering.

WHEEZIE: What did he mean, Everything is ready?
OWEN: He didn’t say it was ready. He said it was ship-shape.

To the Lost, places look unfamiliar; faces are strange; signs are obscure and choices seem either inconsequential or beyond our ability. At times, it is all we can do to just step forward.

CHARLOTTE: Ma’am… we don’t know what’s in there!

The characters who venture indoors don’t discover a filthy bunker or a furtive bolt-hole, but a expansive, well-stocked and clean space that does, indeed, seem ready for immediate occupancy. Perhaps it’s a sort of way station, offering supplies and temporary comfort. Perhaps it’s meant to be a home. Or perhaps it’s a trap.

Looking at one another over dying flames, WE are humbled by our neediness and vulnerability. We are ill-suited for the challenges ahead. But we are not alone. We are in this together. We are in the same boat.

EPISODE 2 REFLECTIONS SET 1

The story of the Great Flood and the Ark is part of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. We know it by heart. Humans have turned from God, so God wipes them out and starts all over with just a few, a remnant he’d saved by ordering them onto a boat that survived the terrible waters.
AUNT DOT: I could live in a ship’s cabin. All warm wood and brass.
OWEN: Cozy.
AUNT DOT: “A safe crossing over perilous seas.”
The season of Lent is an ark, a great storm-tossed ship carrying us above the waters, transporting us to new life.

EPISODE 2 REFLECTIONS SET 2

The Event emptied an entire metropolis overnight. The world has changed forever. An entire population—wiped out, gone without a trace. At least for the time being, water still runs through pipes, electricity still works, birds still chirp in trees. But what does it all mean? Why have these people survived? Are they in some way connected to what happened? Will whatever happens next depend on what they do now? The questions are mindboggling, the implications too vast to contemplate. So the characters revert to normalcy. They shave. They eat. They rest. They draw. They chat. But how long can they pretend to be normal when the universe itself is so out of whack?
ABLE: Hey, kid… it’s alright. Everything’s gonna be alright.
TOM: “Everything’s gonna be alright?”Alright?
In Lent, as we contemplate the personal and social sins brought pain and suffering to others and left us alone and isolated, we are consistently led to similar questions of responsibility. Inevitably, we must ask, How can I respond? How can I make it right?