I wasn't planning on writing any episode reviews right away, but I had so many thoughts about this episode -- and wrote them down because my spreadsheet was handy -- that it made sense to share them here too.
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I just finished a week-long break from Facebook, the ToO, and other "entertainment Internet sites," so Matthew's fast definitely hit home for me. This comes on the heels of my having to have a locksmith break into my car a few days before listening to "Wooton's Broken Pencil Show" (though my locksmith did not use a brick
).
Goof Alert!: Did anybody catch the three-syllable word Eugene used? He substituted "ideas" for "principles," when both words actually have three syllables.
Missed Opportunities:
- Toward the beginning of the episode, I was really hoping that Katrina would come up in the course of a conversation with Eugene, because, you know, "Katrina" is three syllables long! That would've been really fun to incorporate.
- I also think it would've been nice to reference "Do, for a Change," when Eugene fasted shortly after becoming a Christian.
The Imagination Station Scene: I didn't find the Thomas Jefferson Imagination Station scene to be that funny. Doesn't it kinda ruin the Imagination Station when you can "bring in" any number of anachronistic things, and the "characters" start talking about the Imagination Station?
My main problem with this episode: Whit and Chris (at the end) painted a good picture of the purpose of fasting ("deny[ing] the body something it enjoys in order to concentrate on something spiritual, like our relationship with God," "giving up something that's important to you during a period of prayer and Bible study," a great way to grow closer to God and focus on Him alone, etc.), but, in my opinion, that picture wasn't portrayed very well throughout the episode. It kinda stopped at the "giving up something" part. But what about the "growing closer to God through a period of prayer and Bible study"?
Only Whit and Wooton clearly connected their fasting experiences with God (and Wooton, at first only as an afterthought, if you listen to the album version). I was disappointed that, when Matthew was trying to get away from computers and came to Whit for advice on what to do, Whit said nothing about spending time with God. How can it be fasting if God doesn't enter into the equation (let alone isn't a major part of the fast)? Connie talked about trying to curb vanity, and Eugene, his pride in his intellect, which are both worthy goals, but it seemed more about "fixing something about yourself on your own" rather than a way to draw closer to God through the experience of giving something up for a period of time. I guess the words "comedic antics" in the episode summary should have been a giveaway that it was more about humor than actually about fasting.
"Solitary Refinement" was a good episode about a spiritual discipline. This one ... not so much.
SUMMARY: There were some funny parts, yes, and I did enjoy the listening experience, but I was just so disappointed that the spiritual theme was sugarcoated so much. I don't know, maybe I'm not being fair to this episode. Maybe I'm just more sensitive than I used to be to the presence of strong Christian messages. Maybe slice-of-life episodes have always been this light and it was never a big deal to me before. But ... I don't think so. This episode brought to mind "Do, for a Change," because it's the only other episode (that I know of) that mentions fasting. "Do, for a Change," however, is one of my favorite slice-of-life episodes. In that episode, the spiritual content is strong, the humor is fitting and not overblown, and the characters' dilemmas felt very real.
It was nice to have an episode totally devoted to fasting, but it felt disconnected from what fasting really is. Apart from Chris' and Whit's statements, it seemed little more than an exercise in self-discipline that may or may not include God. It just felt like sort of a game that trivialized fasting, which made it hard for me to enjoy the episode.
I'd also like to second what Taq said, particularly about Eugene's fast, and add that "fasting from two-syllable words" seems more like a distraction from one's relationship with God than something that would be helpful (for example, being so fixated on saying the right words while praying).