Downton Abbey is back, and with it, inspiration for all who write. If you're not familiar with Downton Abbey, it's on Masterpiece and very much like "Upstairs, Downstairs." We know the goings-on in the great house for the servants and the masters and it's most entertaining.

It's such a great metaphor for how life is -- how there is the home life that is presented and then, the reality. The reality is people create a lot of their own drama. It reminds me of the first line in "Anna Karenina" which is "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

I notice when a family is happy, the media will do its utmost to tear that apart. Case in point: Joel Osteen was on Oprah's new show on the OWN network. Joel is a generally happy person. The kind of person who is so happy, you almost don't believe it, but I think that's who he is. Naturally, Oprah had to bring up Scripture and what he thinks about gay people.

In the end, his hour-long interview and the discussion on running the biggest church in the world is curtailed by his view of what Scripture says. It's really hard to have an opinion that doesn't gel with society's. Modern-day McCarthyism. But what struck me about the interview is that we as a society, really hate to see a happy family. And what a terrible crisis that is for our country. The desire to tear others down is a natural, sinful instinct and how sad for us.

Drama is great in fiction, but wouldn't it be nice if we could leave it there instead of tear others apart? I vote that we all watch "Downton Abbey" instead!

Labels: Anna Karenina, Downton Abbey, happy families, Joel Osteen, Oprah