Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures
God not only speaks to individuals but appears to them in a
variety of forms, many times human. Sometimes these forms are
called angels (see Jacob's
dream in Genesis 28:10-22), but many Biblical scholars
believe people in ancient Israel considered angels to be human
representations of God. Jacob wrestles with a figure (Genesis
32:22-32) that tells him he has "struggled with
God." Moses gets to see the "backside" of
God (Exodus 33:20-22).
Christians look to Jesus as the human incarnation of God,
and Jesus speaks of himself as being one with the Father (John
10:30). Although Christians believe Jesus to be the ultimate
image of God, divine visitations did not stop when Jesus left
this earth. In the 15th century a young Christian woman, Joan
of Arc, began to receive revelatory "voices" from
God giving her instruction and comfort.
So hearing voices or conversing with God is nothing new.
Yet in our day we are likely (with good reason) to be skeptical
of people who boldly claim God told them to do something. We
have seen religious visions turn violent and ungodly.
All of this is what makes the premise of Joan
of Arcadia so fascinating. It gives us an opportunity to discern—by
watching, evaluating and discussing—what we believe
is and is not realistic in these portrayals of God.
Episode-in-a-nutshell
A cute guy approaches 16-year-old
Joan Girardi at school and tells her that he is God. To prove
this, he tells her a lot of things about herself that she has
never revealed to anyone. God tells Joan he is going to be
checking in with her from time to time, asking her to do a
few things. Her first task is to get a job at the Skylight
bookstore.
Joan convinces the testy owner of the bookstore to hire her,
and she happens to stumble across the classic book Lives
of the Saints and reads about the historical Joan of Arc, who
also talked with God. Leaving the bookstore, Joan is approached
by a man in a car. She at first thinks this is another appearance
of God, but when he lunges at her she runs away.
Joan's father, police chief Will Girardi, is investigating
a serial killer who is after young women. While Joan is telling
her dad about the creepy man outside the bookstore, police
officers bring that same man into the station for running a
red light, mouthing off to officers and resisting arrest. His
muddy footprints in the police station are all it takes for
officers to discover that he is the serial killer—and
the man who sped away when Joan resisted his attack.
Helen Girardi, mother to Joan, Luke and Kevin, is concerned
about Kevin's attitude toward work. Kevin is in a wheelchair
after a serious motor vehicle accident that rendered him paraplegic
and unable to accept an athletic scholarship at the University
of Arizona. Helen tries to convince Kevin to at least get a
driver's license so he can look for work. When Joan
takes the bookstore job Kevin begins to think seriously about
working since he is older and out of school.
Joan comes to believe that God's request for her to
work at the bookstore was God's way of using her to
encourage Kevin to work. And possibly help catch a serial killer.
Questions for discussion
- The title song for this series is the hit that asks, "What
if God was one of us?" Do you ever stop to think how
God might look or act or what God might say if God was a
person sitting right next to you? What are the advantages
of thinking of God in this way? What are some of the drawbacks?
- Would you have reacted as Joan did if a person came
up to you and claimed to be God? What questions might you
ask such a person in order to verify their claim? What would
it take for you to believe the person talking to you was,
in fact, God?
- Cute Guy (God) tells Joan that God's requests
are "not about religion, but about fulfilling a destiny." How
is God assisting Joan in "fulfilling her destiny"?
What is your destiny? Are you living up to your potential?
How do you assess that?
- Do the portrayals of God in this episode ring true
to you?
- Consider the conversation Joan has with Cute Guy
(God) outside her school. Is that portrayal of God similar
to the one Jesus taught? What parts of it are similar? What
parts of it are different?
- Are a variety of images of God helpful to you? What
are your favorites?
- Read the story of Jacob's dream in Genesis 28:10-22.
What was the purpose of the angels appearing to Jacob?
- Read the story of Jacob wrestling with a divine figure
in Genesis 32:22-32. Was this figure God? What was the
purpose of the wrestling match?
- Jesus told his disciples that "he and the Father
were one." How do you understand that statement?
- What was God's purpose for Joan when God
asked her to get a job at the bookstore?
- If people don't get clear-cut visitations from
God, how do we know what God is asking us to do? How do you
figure out what God's desire for your life is?
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