What Binge-Watching a Little-Known NatGeo Show Has Taught Me

Karen Estep shares two lessons about faith she has learned from a surprising source.

As off-duty teachers in the summer, my husband and I have found a new show to binge watch. Port Protection, Alaska is a show produced by National Geographic. The show follows a community of about 40 full-time residents on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Port Protection is a combination of hunting and fishing, things my husband enjoys, with reality television, which is what I like to watch. We started watching it at the beginning of June and quickly made it through almost all of the seasons. We may be making plans for a vacation there next summer as well … well, I may be and might just drag my husband and chuckleheads along.  

Lessons about preparedness and community

While what drew my husband and I to continue watching this show was the people (our favorite person to watch is/was Gary, who passed away in a tragic accident), the scenery, and the gumption these people have, it is ultimately the things we can learn from this tiny community that keep us pressing play for the next episode. Whether the show producers intended the show to teach the viewers about preparedness and community or not, those are some of my biggest takeaways. To continue to live a subsistence lifestyle day after day as a choice takes a lot of courage and probably a bit of stubbornness. As Catholics, when we make the choice to continue to wake up and give our days over to the Lord, we also need courage and a bit of stubbornness.  

One of the first things I noticed about the people in Port Protection is that they enjoy the season they are in while always looking ahead to the season coming. They have to plan for months at a time being in the Alaskan bush, while also making sure they make the most of the current day.  

Scripture teaches us the very same thing. In the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Jesus explains that we need to build our houses on the rock instead of on sand, so that when the rain falls our house will still stand (Matthew 7:25-27). As Christians, we should always live for the day, the season, and time that we are currently experiencing. However, we know that we need to be prepared for the seasons of need and of spiritual weathering. When things seem to all be good in our lives or all fall into place, that is the time that we need to be storing up, preparing ourselves, and batting down the figurative hatches for when a spiritual weathering comes.

I have been a Christian for my whole life and know that these times of storms can seem to come out of nowhere, much like a squall hitting the Alaskan skyline. However, the more I remain prayerful, engaged in Scripture, and obedient, the easier it is to weather the storms.  

Passing knowledge from generation to generation

The second thing I noticed about Port Protection (well, really the third or fourth because the scenery and the animals are stunning) is that the people there know that they are a part of their community as a village and also a part of the greater humanity community. They reuse resources instead of throwing things away, they help each other out when cutting down trees, and it is constantly mentioned how the “old-timers” have the responsibility of passing along their knowledge to the younger members in the community.  

As a fairly new Catholic, this whole concept resonates with me the most. My personal library of Catholic books consists of books authored by saints long passed. That does not mean that their insights cannot be “reused” in the times that we are living in. I rely on my friends who have been Catholic much longer than me to help with answers when I have questions or when there seems to be a hurdle too big for me to “chop down” on my own. I also heavily rely on gaining knowledge from “old timers” who can help guide my faith.  

As Catholics we also recognize that we are part of a universal Church not just our local parishes. Just like the residents of Port Protection realize that their impact goes beyond their tiny village, we too also need to recognize the impact that we can have as Catholics out in the world. Yes, we should support our parishes through our time, talent, and treasure — and we need to help the universal Catholic Church as well. We can do that by prayer for priests, youth, laity, and those fallen away from the Church. We can also have a larger impact by being courageous and evangelizing through our interactions every day. The residents of Port Protection, AK truly walk the walk when it comes to being good stewards: so can we, even in the lower 48.  

It is not every day that my husband and I can agree on what to watch once our chuckleheads go to bed. So, when we find a good television show to binge-watch, we consider that a win. It makes it a win-win when that bingeable television show can also teach us a thing or two.   

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2024 Karen Estep
Images: Canva