Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

Pluribus is a new show made by the creator of the “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” series, Vince Gilligan. This show explores so many themes I don’t have time for in the blog, but will hopefully explore through different avenues. Regardless, a part of the story begins with a writer witnessing her entry into a new world order, a new way of living. After one of the most tumultuous nights of harm and heartbreak, Carol wakes up one day to realize the world is different, its script has changed, but her desires in life are quite similar. She walks outside to see the same morning sky as the day before, speaking the same language she has always spoken, but the vibe and feel of her neighborhood completely changed. The night before, where nearly everyone Carol came in contact with was acting with unfamiliar behavior, Carol believed this had to be the cause of an alien invasion, an intrusion of an extraterrestrial force. However, I would like to challenge this thought, as I believe Vince Gilligan will use this pilot episode and the rest of the series to invite his audience into a new story, a new world order.

In this blog, I hope to challenge the perceptions one has about one’s identities and possibly the perception they have of other people’s identities. I would like to believe our identities are forever changing, the way we understand, inhale, and express influencing the way we grow. I believe we are constantly creating meaning out of our circumstances, creating boundaries that can sometimes be harmful, limiting the potential of one’s own or someone else’s story.

The Woke Mirror

I believe reflex can act like a religion. Reflexes can be defined as a belief and action humans hold to, a superhuman characteristic of individuals, and those who have unique reflexes are said to have superhuman-like abilities. I believe religion can act like a reflex. Religion can be the action performed by an individual that is a response to a stimulus, a force inside or outside of oneself, that relies on unconscious thought, but a deep knowing within one’s spirit. My definitions could be a stretch, and are open for debate or discussion, however, I would like to use these definitions to explore belief further. Is belief an action or a reaction to our details of our story? Can it be both? I believe reflexes reflect religious belief, like a mirror, however, I will use the rest of this section to come to a more detailed conclusion.

On the Stay Spiritual Channel, James and Justin react to a video of a man preaching the gospel at a mosque¹. James pauses the video after the man in the video’s introduction, and laughs that the man has a drink called “Renewal Rain” that had Jesus on it². James is curious what “Renewal Rain” is, and Justin adds in, thinking it would be interesting to see a Christian energy drink³. Later, Justin pauses the video, reflecting on a comment from a different video, where a viewer asked what religion they like above Christianity?⁴ Justin disclaims he may have interpreted the question incorrectly, but it seems viewers think they value Christianity more than the other religions⁵. Justin shares that they grew up going to church as Christians, but now they don’t believe in any religion⁶. Justin finds the conversation between the Christian and the Muslim to be very tricky, recognizing some people do convert over to other religions, but it’s not a conversation he would not want to have due to conversations about assumptions being seen as truth⁷. Justin expresses his desire to be aware of what he says because there is a ton of gravity in making statements that explore the possibility the afterlife is not a real thing, or even so far as god doesn’t exist⁸. James pitches in that they’re watching perspectives here, two people who have put their stakes on different philosophies, and it seems kind of awkward due to the mission each person is trying to achieve⁹.

James and Justin react to the conversation between a Christian and a Muslim, a sales pitch of the Gospel. The conviction of each individual leads to them playing on the defensive, guarding themself and their philosophy with evidence and analogies. The contrast between the two is different in beliefs, but similar in the way they reflect each other. The way they hold on to one or two words of the other, trying to find a loophole in the other’s claim, sharing personal stories to create vulnerability in the other. James and Justin realize the belief systems would continue to collide, the two speakers waiting for the other to finish, so they could express their point, their winning point that will bring the other to their side. Though the walls stay up, I don’t believe this conversation was 100% worthless, I believe the walls came down a little bit, realizing the reflection of themself in each other’s perspective. Each speaker’s personal reflections create sparks in their conversation, maybe for each other, maybe for the audience, I am not sure. Regardless the sparks that fly, may spark the spirits of listeners, may bring the audience to reflect, a reflex to religion, an aware, woke spirit realizing the mirror available to each of us.

The Woke Analogy

Religious and spiritual teaching incorporates a lot of analogies. Analogies that help make something that may be difficult to understand within its ancient context, into something that is relatable in a modern context. In my time working with sports ministry organizations, analogies to athletic performance and discipline were commonplace, on the walls, in the dorms, and seemed to be sprinkled in throughout meetings. I believe there is a religiosity to sporting events and performances, cultural moments that families and communities hold valuable, worship, and believe it will happen again. The exciting draft pick, the new coach hire, the celebration over a championship win, are not just cultural moments, not just measly games to everyone, but for some they are performances that stick with them and their families for a lifetime, and sometimes even future generations.

On the CULTURAL TV Channel, the group posted highlights from a soccer match¹⁰. The game starts and the team with white jersey takes possession of the ball¹¹. Later on in the video, we have a corner kick for the team in green jerseys, where the ball was headed in by one of the strikers for the green team¹². Jumping forward the white team moves the ball well and during one of their plays, the green team commits a penalty and gives the white team a free kick to continue to get their advantage¹³. In the 30th minute, we see a free kick earned by the team in white jerseys¹⁴. The player in the white jersey lifts the ball up above the people in green jerseys attempting to prevent a direct shot¹⁵. The ball curves and floats in the air, and a teammate in a white jersey pretends to go for a header (or just misses the header completely), and confuses the goalie¹⁶. The ball curves down, softly into the bottom right corner of the goal¹⁷. The commentators discuss the importance of this game, expressing that whoever wins this game only has the champions game to follow¹⁸. Towards the end of the highlights, the green team throws the ball in on the sideline, the player in the green jersey tries to take a move, but is quickly fouled¹⁹. Another highlight shows a player in a green jersey getting a free kick from quite far out, straight and in-line with the goal²⁰. The player takes a shot and the ball sails 10 feet over the goal²¹.

This is the first time I have watched a video from CULTURAL TV where the commentators spoke in English, a sense of relief as the commenters added audio to explain what I was seeing. This video reminded me of how important it is to hear the analysis of a game, to hear the enthusiasm of the commentators and the crowd at what they see on the field. Yes the score was 2-1, the white team came down from 1-0 and scored two consecutive goals, but the score of the game was not the purpose of the video. They didn’t even show the second goal scored by the team in white jerseys. I believe CULTURAL TV focuses on the life of the game, incorporating the highlights with the most crowd reaction, the most intense calls by the play-by-play team. In this way, the highlights become an immersive experience, an experience that is not concerned with accurate portrayal, or even a deep study of the game, but the senses and tension present between the two competing teams in the game. The Christian and the Muslim did not have a winner and a loser, but I believe this soccer game is a physical analogy of the conflict between two opposing forces, one trying to showcase their knowledge, their awareness, their wokeness in their athletic performance.

The Woke Reflection

In my most recent Behind the Scenes video, I expressed my desire to experiment with different editing techniques for my documentary. I wanted to make my film feel like a jazz composition, feelings of improvisation, suspense, vulnerability, and trust communicated through the lens of my camera. I had a lot of film to play with and tried to incorporate parts of all my recordings to share my experience. What I’m realizing is that no matter what I create, I will never be able to share the experience authentically. No matter how in tune I am with myself, No matter how much I understand myself, I believe there is a part of my subconscious that holds back my insecurities, editing the full experience of who I am. I’m grateful for Paul to be able to fill in the gaps where I feel I fall short.

On the Artistic Journey Channel, the creators released a short of an idea for a scrapbook²². The video starts with a beautifully decorated book, white flowers and monarch butterflies fill the black book cover, almost giving off a fall theme²³. The creator opens the book to share a calendar of the month of November, a birthday cake on top of the calendar, and the heart of the date that would be November 3rd²⁴. Skipping forward through the quick cuts, there is a page titled “The Day She Came Into The World” where the author writes how beautiful it is to share a birthday with her mom, a woman who shows kindness, love and care to those around her²⁵. A few clips later, there is another page of the scrap book that has beautifully painted roses on it, the pages are textures, making the scrapbook come to life, and there is a cute drawing of someone giving cake, and the recipient blushing as they receive the cake²⁶. Another snippet of the short shows another letter, ridges around the paper like it has been ripped out of a letter and weathered through time²⁷. Skipping forward once again, we see another cute letter, bordered by purple flowers, a letter addressed as “The Bond Beyond Birthdays”²⁸. A few pages later, we see another letter, documenting the birth of her little brother, gifted to the family by Krishna²⁹. One of the last pages showcased is a tribute to “A Complete Circle of Life” featuring the same cute drawing of the girl with the cake and a boy blushing³⁰.

In this creator’s scrapbook, you could tell every cut was carefully crafted, showcasing the time and tradition of the family. Each page was decorated with ribbons, flowers, and drawings, adding color through design. Every page contained a memory, harboring the way the creator valued every moment with her family. I believe the way the creator edited their story displays their ability to claim authorship over her story, owning her expression of her identity. I believe the creator’s reflection can teach us another way to reflect, another way to edit, another way to wake up to what has happened and is happening around us.

Reaffirming the Woke

Wake to your imagination. Raise someone else up. Disorient your story. Mirror your evolution. React with analogies. Inhale with reflection. Understand and create. Express until you can’t. Originate what’s strange. Become what’s eternal. Let your echo ring like a symphony.

Bibliography

1. Stay Spiritual, “Reacting to “Preaching The Gospel To A Muslim!” by Bryce Crawford | Islam vs Christianity,” YouTube, November 11, 2025, accessed November 12, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nfJt-Ld0bE&t=71s. ↩︎
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10. CULTURAL TV, “Highlights from the Interiorano Serie A match between Guarani and Kaiser: 2-1,” YouTube, November 9, 2025, accessed November 12, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9_mz1HwREo&t=7s. ↩︎
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