Joan of Arcadia

This is one to keep your eye on.

My wife was visiting a friend in hospital last night, and I was baby sitting. The premiere of a new TV series caught both mine and my sons attention last night - "Joan of Arcadia". (Yes, we were fans of "Touched By an Angel", "Party of Five" and the sacharine sweet "Seventh Heaven").

This one looks interesting.

A girl who has a unique relationship with God, who incognito appears to her as a variety of characters - a girl in the playground, a garbo, a young teenager, an electrician - and talks with her.

What is interesting to me is the accuracy and insight contained within some of the responses that God gives to Joans question's on suffering, the rarity of miracles, his character etc. Her father is Chief of Police and her brother has recently been crippled in a car accident - and all this winds into the plot. She makes friends with and discovers potential and purpose in the lives of "rejects".

As this article says "The punch of "Joan of Arcadia" is that even with God in Joan's corner, things don't always go well - though there's always a moral, and a moment, to take away at the end".

The show is supposed to be non-denominational but one can't escape seeing both overt Jewish and Catholic influences.

I for one am very wary o the influence of universalism, and the New Age, and for now I will place it on a "watching brief". But it looks intriguing.

By the way, my son was put to bed before the show ended last night...he ran into our bedroomthis morning and the first sentence to fall from his lips was "What happened to God?".

At the very least it will make you think.