Finding inspiration in the early years of Pope Francis

The four-part Spanish-language Netflix miniseries "Call me Francis" on the early priesthood of Pope Francis surely isn't raking in the viewership of "House of Cards" or "Stranger Things," but it's one of the most compelling, powerful and inspiring pieces of television I've seen in a long time (and inspiring is not something you see much in popular television these days). I never thought subtitles could bring me to tears.

First of all, you don't need to be a Catholic or even a Christian to find meaning in the series. In fact, one of the interesting and surprising revelations from Francis' life is that some of his closest friends were agnostics or atheists, including one woman in particular, Esther Ballestrino, whom Francis worked with in a lab when he was studying chemical engineering. Esther's fight on behalf of human rights during the brutal purges of the 1970s, and her tragic fate, is one of the fascinating subplots in the mini series, and leads to a crisis for Francis that threatens to destroy his career.

At the heart of the series is a message of hope and resilience, and the struggles so many of us face in trying to do the right thing and make a positive difference while constricted by forces outside our control. We learn from Francis' life how easy it is to tie ourselves up in knots, and how to ultimately undo those knots (Episode 3 of the Series is titled "The Knots.")

The basic theme of the story is Francis' life in the 1970s and '80s, when the man then known as Father Jorge Bergoglio is climbing the ranks of the Catholic Church in Argentina at the same time the church is grappling with the horrific purges and assassinations by the country's military dictatorship that ultimately results in the disappearance, and apparent deaths, of 30,000 people. Though the church is a powerful force in Argentina, its ability to stop these human rights abuses is limited, and those priests who are especially outspoken and active in fighting the government often end up assassinated themselves.

This is where Francis comes in. Like so many, he finds himself caught in the middle of an impossible situation, trying to work within the system to make a difference and save lives even while he knows the system isn't working the way it should. He often finds himself unable to please anyone, including himself. The activists who are openly fighting the government view him as too much of a conformist to a church that is unwilling to jeopardize its position within Argentine society by taking a harder stand against the government's atrocities. And those above him view him as too much of a rabble rouser rocking a boat that will only tip himself and the people he wants to help over the side.

This is ultimately a story of what it's like to be caught in the middle of a difficult, or impossible, situation, balancing what we want to accomplish with what is possible given the circumstances. Whether in our careers or family lives, how many of us have found ourselves in a similar situation? Trying to carve out a middle ground because it is the only path we can find, and seemingly unable to please anyone in the process, or make the difference we want to make? This is Francis' plight, and it ultimately leaves him tied up in knots. Even though he works behind the scenes to hide and protect people targeted by the government and fight government corruption, the people he cares most about keep dying.

And this is what leads to the crisis when Esther Ballestrino disappears during her fight on behalf of mothers of missing children who were abducted by the government (she and others were drugged and tossed out of an airplane to their deaths). His inability to save his friend nearly destroys Francis' career. He escapes for Germany and one day finds himself sitting in a small church gazing at a painting of the Virgin Mary holding a ribbon of knots. A woman sitting next to him explains the meaning of the painting. Mary is undoing the knots of the ribbon, symbolizing the power of faith to undo the knots we tie ourselves up in during our own struggles. She can undo your knots, the woman tells Francis. As Francis gazes at the painting, tears stream down his eyes. He feels the burden of his difficult decisions begin to lift from his shoulders.

The rest, as they say, is history. From that day on, Francis held a strong devotion to Mary, the undoer of knots, and would carry around cards with the painting that he would give to others facing their own struggles and difficult decisions.

As a man driven by faith, Francis also displayed a strong sense of pragmatism in his rise to the papacy. And in this era where ideology drives such deep wedges between us and stunts hope for progress that can only be achieved through compromise and finding a middle ground, it's a powerful lesson to remember. During his short papacy, Francis has brought people together like few before him, and inspired the world with his activism on behalf of shared values, whether the plight of the poor, or the environment. As the world sees a leadership vacuum from the United States, Francis may be the figure who steps forward to continue the fight for the values of freedom and social justice across the globe.

"Call me Francis" also reminded me how rare it is to see television drama these days that is truly inspiring and uplifting. There was plenty of darkness and sadness in the series, but that darkness was ultimately transcended by the power of human goodness, and one man's triumph over his inner struggles. It's sad that the most popular dramas on television these days seem to focus exclusively on human darkness and the power of violence, selfishness and evil. Back in the 1970s and '80s, you routinely saw dramas that, while often cheesy, were heavy on inspiration and the goodness of humanity, as well as the power of faith ("Touched by an Angel" and "Highway to Heaven.)" Those types of series are long gone. It seems that as a society, we now prefer to wallow in our darkest impulses, even when it comes to entertainment. We need more series like "Call me Francis" to teach us that goodness ultimately triumphs over evil, not just in fiction, but in real life.