As I think again about the BBC TV sitcom Rev the word wrecked comes to my mind.
Probably my favourite character in Rev is Colin the local vagrant, brilliantly played by Steve Evets. I described him as a philosopher tramp in my previous post on Rev.
But there is a much darker side to Colin, than that of simply providing an amusing foil to the religious self-doubt of Adam. Colin is, in many ways wrecked. Alcoholic, drug addict, prone to outbreaks of violence when he’s ‘under the influence’, even against those who have previously helped and supported him, he has adopted an equally derelict dog called Bongo as his faithful companion.
In the final episode of the 3rd series we saw Adam in bed with depression, broken in spirit, having been betrayed by several people, Colin among them. Then Colin turns up at the door with Bongo in his arms. Bongo has died – because Colin himself ignored advice and fed him a chocolate Easter egg stolen from the local store.
At this lowest moment, Colin comes to the priest and finds only his wife Alex, not known for her own religious devotion.
“You can do a Bongo funeral can’t you Mrs Vicarage?”
To me, this was the most heart-breaking moment of the entire series.
Alex finds herself put on the spot, helps Colin bury Bongo outside their house, and says a few kind words about Bongo. Then she offers that they say the Lord’s Prayer together.
To me, in Rev, this is a Kairos moment – a moment when the very highest shines through in the very lowest.
When in his most vulnerable, wrecked, broken state, this vagrant goes to the one person who can somehow bring some divine perspective into his pain – even though that person is himself broken.
I believe this is the heart of the Christian faith and what Christ was all about.
We all need some divine perspective in our very lowest moments. Thank you to all those who helped to create Rev, and give us this among many other insights.
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