{"id":249,"date":"2014-10-13T02:26:22","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T02:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=249"},"modified":"2014-10-13T02:26:22","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T02:26:22","slug":"dear-god-its-the-good-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=249","title":{"rendered":"Dear God \u2026 It\u2019s The Good Wife"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"The<\/a>When I saw the title (\u201cDear God\u201d) and the briefest of plot synopses (Christian mediation) for the episode of The Good Wife<\/em> that aired on CBS on Sunday, October 5th<\/sup><\/a>, I wondered. It\u2019s not very often that television gets this stuff right. Sure, The Good Wife<\/em> is reliably one of the best dramas on TV (especially broadcast network TV) right now. The writing and directing and acting are consistently top-notch. Many weeks the guest cast list includes at least one notable name. While faith has come up from time to time throughout the seasons, it\u2019s always been a sideline part of a story, not the main focus. Usually it involves mother-in-law Jackie sniping at Eli Gold (her son\u2019s previous campaign manager who is now his chief of staff) about his Jewishness \u2026 or more recently daughter Grace and her burgeoning Christian faith.<\/p>\n

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\"thCANZLH9N\"<\/a>But overall, far beyond The Good Wife<\/em>, television has a long history of getting faith more wrong than right. I still regard TV\u2019s best portrayal of Christian faith and life (at least as I\u2019ve experienced it) as the short-lived series Nothing Sacred<\/em><\/a>, which aired from the fall of 1997 until early spring the following year. Set in Chicago (like The Good Wife<\/em>), the series centered on the staff of fictional Saint Thomas Catholic Church. Characters wrestled with faith and doubt and questions for which there were no simple, clear, easy answers. Angels never showed up to explain anything; this was no Touched by an Angel<\/em> (a much more popular program that started a few years earlier). Viewers, it seems, prefer fantasy to reality again and again \u2026 a dynamic that does not bode well for those seeking honest, realistic portrayals of people of faith on television. So back to The Good Wife<\/em> and \u201cDear God\u201d (Episode 3 in this sixth season)<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n

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\"105162raw-95b\"<\/a>The primary story for this episode features a client named Ed Pratt (Richard Thomas<\/a>), a sort-of John-Boy Walton who went to business school and then into agribusiness rather than becoming a writer. (Yes, it is a bit of type-casting; however, few actors can convey earnest sincerity and have it seem natural and unforced like Mr. Thomas does.) Ed is a client of attorney Kary Agos (Matt Czuchry<\/a>), who is on the sidelines due to pending criminal charges. So Alicia (Julianna Margulies<\/a>) takes over arguing his case, assisted by newcomer Dean Levine-Wilkins (Taye Diggs<\/a>). The courtroom sparring between Alicia or Dean and the defendant\u2019s attorney, Carter Schmidt (Christian Borle<\/a>), does not sit well with Ed or with the defendant, Wendell Keller (familiar face Robert Joy<\/a>). As it turns out, not only are Ed and Wendell neighbors, they are also Christians. So they decide to try a different approach to resolve their dispute: Christian mediation by what is called \u201cthe Matthew Process\u201d and appears to draw from instructions in Chapter 18 of Matthew\u2019s gospel.<\/p>\n

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Now here we go \u2026 but in which direction? What variety of Christian behavior and practice is going to be on display?<\/p>\n

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Enter Robert Sean Leonard <\/a>(more recognizable here than in his recent turn as Dr. Roger Kadar on TNT\u2019s Falling Skies<\/em><\/a>) as the mediator, Del Paul. His mediation sessions take place at a conference-style table set up in a church sanctuary. \"thCA2YNURY\"<\/a>In the hands of a lesser writer and a lesser actor, this character could have easily become a buffoonish compilation of clich\u00e9s that the entertainment industry frequently associates with Christians \u2026 which is what I feared would happen. But that is not what happens at all.<\/p>\n

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As the first mediation session begins, the lawyers attempt to recreate the same arguments and strategies we just saw them using in the courtroom. Del, however, is having none of that. The rules and procedures to which the lawyers are accustomed don\u2019t apply here. Instead, Del\u2019s primary concern is what is going on with Ed and Wendell \u2013 what is the issue as each understands it? \u2026 which is where any mediation process generally begins. This being a Christian mediation process, Del is also concerned about Ed and Wendell\u2019s on-going relationship as neighbors and as fellow believers, their personal integrity and the role their faith has in their interactions. Hence, it is quickly made clear to the attorneys that scripture is to inform their arguments \u2013 not legal precedent.<\/p>\n

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This sends Alicia home to consult with her daughter Grace (Makenzie Vega<\/a>) for a crash course in what passages from the Bible would be appropriate for her to use. As Alicia lines up the passages to use to support her case and then to argue against what the opposing counsel is likely to say (yes, \u201cBible bullets\u201d to shoot back with), \"bible\"<\/a>Grace explains that the Bible doesn\u2019t work that way. This leads to Grace explaining how things in the Bible can be true \u201cthe way poetry is true.\u201d It\u2019s a great moment for the characters and a realistic explanation that most pastors would love for a member of the youth group to be able to articulate.<\/p>\n

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Back in mediation, Alicia and Carter give working from Scripture their best efforts, but they are still attorneys. Del acknowledges that they have done their homework \u2026 while at the same time subtly conveying his awareness that their use of scripture is utilitarian \u2026 in a manner that is not condescending or insulting. And when Del states he will pray and reflect on the points that have been raised, inviting the others to do the same, he comes across as genuine and conveys an openness to possibilities rather than a mind that is set on a foregone conclusion. When the next mediation session convenes, Del has reached an understanding that opens a safe place for one party to confess \u2026 and to explain why he felt he had few options other than to act as he did \u2026 and for both parties to work out a means of restitution that honors their relationship as neighbors and friends by not forcing the party in the wrong into destitution.<\/p>\n

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Also during the back-and-forth of dueling scripture passages in the second mediation, as the Alicia and Carter attempt to use scripture much as they do case law, the heretofore quiet second-chair Dean spontaneously cites a very relevant passage of scripture. That leads to a conversation with Alicia that exposes some backstory for Dean\u2019s character \u2026 \"9781435132412_p0_v2_s260x420\"<\/a>that he considered going into the priesthood before To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em> <\/a>drew his interest to what legal practice could accomplish \u2026 and, like Alicia, he didn\u2019t consider himself to be \u201cgenetically built to believe in God\u201d \u2026 until he did. Without this bit of self-disclosure, who would have guessed \u2013 or even wondered for a moment \u2013 that this character might also be a Christian?<\/p>\n

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What makes Dean different now that we know he has faith in God, that he considers himself a Christian? Maybe nothing really. After all, what did we assume about this character (or any other character) initially? Do we expect characters we encounter in stories, whether on TV or in film or in books, to be Christian (or have any kind of faith affiliation)? Do we assume, if it isn\u2019t made clear and expressed in a specific way, that some form of religious faith is, therefore, absent?<\/p>\n

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\"thCAEZIQQO\"<\/a>What about the people we meet in real life, day to day? What do we expect or assume about them? If they don\u2019t say they\u2019re Christian \u2026 if they don\u2019t throw the word blessed<\/em> around \u2026 if they aren\u2019t given to spouting phrases like \u201cpraise the Lord\u201d or \u201cthe Lord laid it my heart\u2026 if they aren\u2019t constantly putting it out there, do we imagine they might possibly be Christian? Statistics indicate that most of the people we cross paths with (except for those we did see at church on Sunday \u2013 if we were there) were not at church the previous Sunday. But is regular church attendance the definition of a Christian? Or is it attending Bible studies? Or does some indication of devotional practices or a prayer life prove that one is a Christian?<\/p>\n

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What do we expect of people? What do we take as a given to be true of them? And how do our expectations change if we know they are Christian \u2026 or if we know they are not?<\/p>\n

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Looking at this episode of The Good Wife<\/em>, what evidenced the characters as Christian wasn\u2019t necessarily what they said or the way they said it. What made the mediation process Christian was not the role of prayer (at no time did any of the parties clearly pray during the mediation) or the use of scripture — the non-believing Alicia and the who-knows-what-he-believes Carter cited scripture the most. What marked the characters identified as Christian \u2013 Ed, first, and also Wendell and Dean as well as Del \u2013 was a sense of integrity.<\/p>\n

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\"thCANUXXLC\"<\/a>The dictionary defines integrity<\/em><\/strong> as soundness or completeness, honesty and sincerity. The word shares a root with integrate<\/em><\/strong>, meaning to bring the pieces together into a whole. It\u2019s not that having religious faith, whether particularly Christian faith or any faith at all, is essential to having integrity. People without religious beliefs can \u2013 and do \u2013 have integrity. But for those who do have religious faith, that faith is a part that must be included in the whole-making necessary of integrity. The faith has to be expressed in how you live \u2026 the way you look at other people and life and things \u2026 and how you do what you do in the world.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA Christian cobbler,\u201d Martin Luther famously explained, \u201cmakes good shoes, not shoes with little crosses on them.\u201d Faith isn\u2019t lived out by putting a pious gloss on something, whether it\u2019s little crosses or fish symbols or a \u201cblessed.\u201d Faith is lived out by doing our best work consistently because it is the right thing to do, not because we\u2019ll get a bigger reward (this life or the next \u2026 take your pick). Faith is lived out in relationships marked by care, respect, honesty, a concern for the well-being of the other equal to one\u2019s own. \u201cSee how they love one another?\u201d remarked a confounded critic, observing the early Christians. This sort of faith made visible in relations with others, how and why we do what we do, is a key piece in Christian integrity.<\/p>\n

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Kudos to The Good Wife<\/em> for getting faith right (at least in this aspect). Can we do the same?<\/p>\n

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\""The<\/a>And, speaking of people doing their best work in whatever role is given, also check out Linda Lavin<\/a>\u2019s work in this episode. She has a significant role in this episode as part the on-going story line involving criminal charges against Kary. As Joy Grubick, Kary\u2019s Pretrial Service Officer while he\u2019s out on bond, she hits all her marks as a dedicated, hard-working, probably underpaid, clearly underappreciated public servant. Ms. Lavin\u2019s performance in her last scene in this episode is as real as it gets. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  When I saw the title (\u201cDear God\u201d) and the briefest of plot synopses (Christian mediation) for the episode of The Good Wife that aired on CBS on Sunday, October 5th, I wondered. It\u2019s not very often that television gets this stuff right. Sure, The Good Wife is reliably one …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events-topics","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}