This was an answer I made for our e-discussion thread in Th131 class. Its about the "Grilled Cheesus" episode of the hit show "Glee".
God works in so many ways, in so many angles that we cannot comprehend them all at the same time, not in our lifetimes. Glee's "Grilled Cheesus" episode is a good example of this and its good that they were able to show an episode depicting our religion (in this case Christianity) affects people, particularly the many characters in the show.
Finn had an epiphany when he thought God revealed Himself to him through a grilled cheese sandwich. He thought of revering and praying to God through the sandwich and asked for several "graces", such as winning the first football game of the season, getting to "second base" with Rachel and getting the quarterback job back again. There's really nothing wrong with asking God graces. but we don't have to rely too much and to wait for these prayers to happen. As Christians in faith and action, God, in accepting our prayers, could also ask us to act upon them and to look out for the good that we can see around us. Winning the football game didn't just mean that God willed it; Artie and the rest of the team also had something to do with it, along with a value called teamwork. Rachel wanted it to happen because she wanted to gain Finn's trust and she believed that their love was getting deeper and getting stronger. Finn's sudden surge of belief also had something to do with it too and in this way, maybe God wanted to work it all out in this way. Unfortunately, what happened to Sam by getting tackled by an illegal opposing player and in the process, Finn gets his original job back, demonstrates that some events do not happen as expected or as we want them to be and examples of events such as these involve certain sacrifices, directly towards us or involving others. Emma explained well how God throughout His work with Finn was unpredictable in setting out His plan and that all we can do is pray and believe that whatever plans He may have for us are for the best.
However, Finn couldn't take this revelation because He believed that He had a direct line to God and that every single prayer He would offer could be answered. We are all special indeed in the eyes of God, and He will certainly give answers to our prayers at a specific point in our lives. Yet, it doesn't mean that God is an exclusive hotline one can speed dial for an order of Double Downs from KFC. As we learned in class, God's call is a vocation not involving a chosen few but involves all of us Christians. This calling is not also a one way dial, but a shared exchange between us and God. If God listens to our prayers, then we must be prepared also to answer his calls as well. I personally hope that Finn did not 'lose his religion' in its entirety as he showed with his rendition towards the end of the episode. This is actually a nice plot to follow up in later episodes if the producers wish to do so. This probably also means we may have another e-discussion about Glee as well.
Pertaining to being exclusive with God, Kurt believed through most of the episode he was personally being "picked upon" by God. Yet, man was given freedom by God to love and serve one another and to be stewards of His creation, and sad to say, this is not always the case. With so much freedom, some people just let go of what God wants for us and bully and abuse the weak, the downtrodden, those who are noticeably different from us. Kurt, yes, did not choose himself to be gay or the way he is, yet it doesn't mean that we can already marginalize him. God, again, always has a plan for everything and sooner or later, Kurt may be able to find his place in the world. His disagreements with the other Glee members regarding praying for his dad and for him are understandable in that he does not believe in God for the above reasons. This cannot be the sole reason why he's pushing away his friends who really care for his plight. His friends have a strong faith in God and so dedicate prayers to his family. It is somewhat ironic then, that he denies God's existence because of his circumstances and yet God works through his friends who show compassion and love through His healing spirit. Only through careful prodding and more through Mercedes' great concern for him that he realizes that he can believe in something that doesn't have to be the God he imagines is torturing him. Because after all, in times of crises and loss, we all have something to hold on to and believe in. Again, God works in mysterious ways and probably, this is one of his plans to make us answer His call.
