Sometimes I get really, really lonely. In these times, I try to remember God.

The hard thing is, God isn’t a physical being; I can’t see him like I can see everything else. I pray and do all the things a good Christian is “supposed” to do, but I still feel horribly lonely.

Oftentimes I think that not only does God scoff at me for being so selfish and down on myself, I think He really doesn’t love me. Or like me.

Not only do I doubt His existence, I think, if He does exist, He doesn’t love me.

I’m a great believer.

Sometimes I try to imagine Him as a human being, then. After all, Jesus still has a body, even if it is a resurrected body. So I try to imagine Him with me. I try to imagine a human being’s presence beside me; maybe His hand on my shoulder.

More often than not, the thought lasts for only a moment. Maybe I need more faith (see: sarcasm).

But recently I’ve realized, through my reading and writing and watching, that perhaps God reveals Himself in other ways too. Namely, perhaps God shows up in other people. Perhaps He shows up in characters.

I’ve written about this before, but I want to dig deeper. I have a few shows in mind and will take them one at a time, analyzing them in-depth. Because I know why I like these shows so much: they overflow with that unconditional love I know I need, and I hope (believe) God can provide (because if He can’t provide it, I’ll never receive it). Obviously no human being is perfect, but fiction allows us to create characters who, even if flawed, can showcase the best of humanity—and lead us to Christ.

The shows I want to focus on are Supernatural; Starsky and Hutch; The Professionals; I Spy; and perhaps Bonanza. And possibly other stories, as I see fit. Obviously these are not the only shows that exemplify such love, but these are ones with which I am pretty familiar. Each of these stories highlights unconditional love within each of their primary relationships: Dean with Sam, Starsky with Hutch (and vice versa sometimes); Bodie with Doyle; Scotty with Kelly.

So I will take one show for each article, dissecting just how it portrays such love, and how this relates to God and man, because it does. If I can’t see God in fiction, then I’m going to have quite a hard time seeing Him. That’s not a bad thing—but fiction is wonderful, and I like to believe God permeates everything wonderful.