by Recently, I’ve been re-reading some old spiritual classics – Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Richard Bach’s Johnathan Livingston Seagull (amazon affiliate links – if you click on link and purchase item I may get minuscule compensation) – books that have known spiritual principles weaved throughout the text. Re-reading these books for a second or…I don’t know fifth time (I tend to re-reach Richard Bach’s works every couple of years) helps to bring a fuller awareness to the spiritual messages which the authors are conveying.
I have found, however, that sometimes the greatest spiritual messages come, not from known spiritual books, but from surprising and often mainstream places.
Recently, Disney released the movie Soul. Now, I have not watched this movie yet (so no spoilers please) but it does deal with some interesting spiritual concepts, including pre-life, that point in time before you incarnate. I know, an interesting concept for a seemingly child’s movie to promote. This isn’t a new venture for this type of kid’s animated movie, as there has previously been movies geared towards kids regarding what happens after death such as the movie Coco (great movie there!).
And it is more than just children’s movies that weave these spiritual concepts into their story lines.
Here is where I tell you a little about myself, mainly my preference in television shows being of the police procedural variety. For the last few months I have been making my way through the series Criminal Minds, watching an episode or two at night.
I did not expect to be confronted with questions about life after death and spiritual concepts of predetermination while watching a show about FBI agents who hunt down serial killers…but, it seems that is the case.
*** Big Spoiler Alert here for the show – if you ever for some reason want to watch Criminal Minds in order this next discussion will ruin some major plot points for you. You have been warned ***
Perhaps the episode that left me most in shock about the interweaving of spiritual concepts with a mundane tv show was one title Route 66, the fifth episode of the 9th season.
In this episode, the main character Hotch is rushed to the hospital due to internal bleeding sustained from previous injuries. While he is unconscious he seems to join his deceased wife in a movie theater. But they are not alone in this theater. Instead, they are joined by his wife’s killer. The wife and her killer are enjoying the show, which is a review from scenes from Hotch’s life.
This theatrical setup seems like mere fiction, but it is very much in line with some life after death accounts of individuals who review their life after transitioning. Nothing really too surprising in the full scheme of things though.
What was interesting and really peaked my attention was a conversation that this character’s wife and her killer had. To summarize, they basically talked about how her death was meant to happen. That there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. That it was “pre-planned”. Additionally, the character of the wife and her killer were very friendly, showing that, after death, they did not have any animosity between them, even though one led to the other’s death.
Personally, I love when these seemingly spiritual concepts are found in places where you do not expect them. Really, from my current watching of Criminal Minds (I’m in season 12 now…so no spoilers for after that point please), I’ve been rather surprised at the amount and treatment of different metaphysical concepts and ideas. It extends beyond just the expected “life after death” and includes some potential mediumship type encounters, although I’m sure they wouldn’t actually categorize them as such.
How about you – have you encountered spiritual concepts in non-spiritual media?? Any favorite shows I should add to my watch list??
Mary Shannon 
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