Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 02/22/23

Angels among us. She first came to our collective attention when she played Monica on the classic inspirational drama Touched by an Angel that ran on CBS for nine seasons from 1994 to 2003. Since then Roma Downey has continued to grow a following not just as an actress but also as a New York Times bestselling author and, with her husband Mark Burnett (of Survivor, The Apprentice and Shark Tank fame), a producer of several faith-based TV miniseries and films such as The Bible, A.D.: The Bible Continues, The Dovekeepers, Son of God, Woodlawn, Ben-Hur and Resurrection. Her new book, Be An Angel: Devotions to Inspire and Encourage Love and Light Along the Way is a 52-week devotional filled with wise and inspirational quotes and reflections offered to ignite the power of kindness and the inner angel in every one of us.

JWK: You came to fame playing Monica the angel for nine seasons on Touched by an Angel. How did doing that show affect your faith and, perhaps, prepare you to write this book?

Roma Downey: The year was 1994 and the script turned up on my desk. At the time it was called Angel’s Attic. I think at some (point) it became Someone to Watch Over Me. Eventually it became known as Touched by an Angel. I was delighted when the script showed up. Honestly, I was an actor looking for a job. If they had wanted me to play a nurse or a schoolteacher or a doctor that season I would have been happy. Like all my peer group, I needed to pay the rent – but this role came in and I just felt aligned with it. It was the kind of work I didn’t mind bringing home with me because I have a believer’s heart. I felt that it was a privilege to be able to play a messenger who delivers a message of God‘s love.

At its height, over 25-million people tuned in each week. I think playing Monica was a big additive in my life. I loved the experience. I loved working with my fellow co-stars. In particular, Della Reese became not just a friend and a mentor but became a mother to me. I loved being able to be part of something that was positive and uplifting. So, it was a great blessing, I think, for all of us involved in the show.

My mother had died when I was a young child. I was only ten years of age and she died unexpectedly. It was a shocking and traumatic loss for our family but, when I met Della, she was so loving she became like a mother to me. Then, curiously – and tragically for her family – her only daughter passed away while we were filming together. Not long after she experienced the loss, she took me in her arms and she said to me “You know, baby, God is so amazing because I always knew that He brought me into your life because you needed a mother. I just didn’t realize that He brought you into my life because I was gonna need a baby girl.” She said “Will you be my baby?” I said “Yes, ma’am.” And she said “Then I am your mamma!” And she went on to be my mom for the rest of her life. Our friendship, of course, endured to the very end of her life. She was one of the lasting gifts to me of the series Touched by an Angel. The relationship that was onscreen between the two of us was very much reflected in our real lives. It’s incredible to have known her and to have been loved by her.

Angels have been significant for me through all these years. I grew up in faith. I know scripturally that there are more than around 300 mentions of angels. Typically, they come with their own supernatural warning. “Fear not!” they say, suggesting to the rest of us perhaps that there was something about them physically that might have been a bit scary to us humans. But, you know, whether it was Gabriel for the Annunciation of Mary or the angel of the Lord’s army, you know, they show up and they bring messages from Heaven. They’re part of that heavenly hosts of praise.

I just wanted to write this book really to remind people that we don’t have to do that much to be kind to each other and how we (can) step into remembering that we belong to each other every day. So, I’ve written this devotional as an invitation really for folks no matter where they are on their faith walk – or even if they’re not on one – to maybe join with me. I’ve written these personal anecdotes from stories from my life, lessons that I have learned along the way in the hopes that maybe those lessons might be valuable to someone.   

JWK: So, you believe in angels.

RD: I do believe in angels. Yes, I absolutely do. Yes, I believe in angels. I believe that they move in the unseen among us, you know? But my hope and my heart in the writing of this book was that, you know, it’s easy to say “I love you” or it’s easy to say “I believe” but…love is a verb. Faith is a verb. We need to put it into action.

So, my heart around this was to write these entries for each day and then to end each chapter with a suggestion about how you the reader could be an angel. Really, they’re just sort of calls to action, calls to encourage each other, calls to be kind to each other, to be more loving. You know, particularly during the covid period, I found myself spending a little bit more time on social media and I was very struck – particularly on the Twitter app – (by) just how unnecessarily mean people are to each other in the kinds of things they say to each other. It got me thinking really just about, you know, our discourse and how we engage with each other and how we have moved away from the simple courtesy of being able to agree to disagree.

JWK: I think you could see that with the issue of masks. It seemed whichever side of the issue people leaned toward regarding wearing them, they had disdain for the other side.

RD: Yes, well, it’s that disdain that’s so upsetting – and so I really was inspired to write this book kind of as an antidote to that. This book is really just meant to be an encouraging book to invite the reader or the listener – because I’ve also recorded an audio version of the book – into remembering these sort of essential human decencies of how to behave towards each other.

Anyway, it was a pouring out from my heart. As I say, it was a cathartic experience to write it. I imagined as I was writing it that I was writing it for one woman – as if I was sitting down to have a cup a tea with someone. I imagined that maybe she was disappointed or had been hurt or let down or had experienced some kind of loss or grief in her life. I wrote the book to be a comfort to her. Now, I don’t know who she is and I’m not suggesting that the book is only for women. I hope that you will find it valuable also, sir, but I just pray that that woman, whoever she is, will find the book or someone will be inspired to pick up the book for her.

You know, I have a very good friend in Pastor Rick Warren. He’s been such a teacher in my life. Him and his wife Kay have loved into our lives and the lives of our family. As you know, he has written a book about a “purpose-driven life.” He has often spoken about almost the alchemy, if you will, of turning pain into purpose. That’s the grist in my life, I feel, in the ways that I have been comforted and the (things) people have done for me or the Scriptures that I have read that have (been enlightening) or certain quotes.

JWK: Are there any particular inspiration quotes or reflections in the book that have helped you in your own life?

RD: Well, one of my favorite psalms is Psalm 46 (about) the simplicity of stillness and the need sometimes to be still and feel the presence of God. So, “Be still and know that I am God” is something that I contemplate most mornings in my own prayer life.

(Someone) I have such respect and admiration (for) and had the good fortune to know in her life was the late Maya Angelou. I actually write about Dr. Angelou in the book…She said “People will forget what you said and people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I just find that so powerful. You know, each of us (should) remember that words have power. If you speak too rashly or you get triggered into responding too quickly you can say something hurtful or mean and then you can’t take it back.

JWK: On a one-to-one basis, of course, that’s true but do you think it’s also true regarding the stuff that’s being put out into our culture via the media? Has it just gotten too mean? When Touched by an Angel was running in the nineties primarily and the early 2000s it seems to me that most of the television shows were a bit kinder than they usually are now. Do you think a Touched by an Angel would even get on a major network today?

RD: I don’t think it would get on. I think there’s a different agenda in our media. I don’t think a show like Touched by and Angel would even get the opportunity to be made today. I think that media and, particularly, our industry in Hollywood seems to think that people who believe are some little small cultish group that lives in the flyover states. Perhaps we the faithful have to be noisier in demanding the kind of content that we want to see or hear but I think the world has become a very volatile and explosive place.

Listen, some of the old guard has been cleaned out and there’s value in that. With Me Too and all the different sort of movements that have sprung up over the last few years where people are finally saying “Enough!” or “You don’t get to do this to me anymore!” (and) people speaking up, that’s all valuable. Of course it is but I think that the Cancel Culture is also quick to criticize – maybe sometimes too quick in that people are being cancelled before they’ve even been heard (regarding) what they’ve (accused of). It’s a confusing time, I think, for people.

I don’t that that Touched by an Angel would find its way today but I continue to hope. My heart is in storytelling. I’ve gone from being an actor for all those years to now primarily producing and to generating stories of hope both for television and for film. As you know, I run a production company called Lightworkers. Our mantra is that it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. So, my primary interest every day is…looking for good scripts. Send us your scripts. Send us your ideas. We want to get these kind of stories up.

I have a beautiful new film that I produced that will be coming to Amazon Prime April 5th. (On a Wing and a Prayer) tells a true story of a family who gets on a small private plane in Florida to go home to Louisiana and the pilot, unfortunately, dies of a massive heart attack while the family is hurtling through the air at 30,000 feet. Understandably, we might think there are no atheists in a foxhole. You can be sure whatever you believe – or don’t believe – if you found yourself in such a situation like that you might be praying. Well, believe me, this family was praying! They happened to be a family of faith and they prayed! The story is extraordinary.

JWK: I believe I’ve posted about that. Is it with Dennis Quaid?

RD: Yes, it’s with Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham. I shot it with my team. Sean McNamara directed for us. He did Soul Surfer if you ever saw that film. He’s such a great director and Dennis is absolutely wonderful in this role. It’s really an extraordinarily moving piece. It’s an exciting and thrilling piece. It’s a movie that’s gonna have you standing and cheering by the end of it. It’s a victorious piece! Glory to God! So, you know, that’s where I continue to try to light the candle rather than to curse the darkness. Is there terrible stuff happening in our world? Yes. Are people mean-spirited to each other? Yes. I can’t fix everything. It’s not my job to. I just keep trying to create content that maybe will open people’s hearts to each other, will remind people that there is a God and that they’re loved – and encourage people to be a little bit more tender towards each other.

JWK: Finally, what do you hope people take from your book and is there anything else you’d like to say as we wrap up?

RD: Thank you. I really just hope that people find the book an encouragement…When we work together, little by little, we can make the world a better place. I know my daughter would be screaming right now going “Mom, you are so corny!” and “That is such a corny mom thing to say!” but, you know, I am a corny mom. I do want the world to be a little nicer – not just for myself (but) for my kids too. So, this is just my contribution to try to inch us closer to remembering to be gracious and remembering to invite in grace…We begin change by something we do every day. So, this devotional, perhaps, will (help people) to take just a little bit of time to be still and know that He is God.

Flashback to a time when TV shows had memorable and encouraging theme songs:

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.