Can Anything Good Come Out of Scranton?

When I think about my favorite romantic moment in The Office, I don’t think first about the central couple of the show, Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer). I think instead about when Michael (Steve Carell) proposes to Holly (Amy Ryan) in the office with the help of his coworkers. He takes her on a tour of the space and ends up in the HR office, which is transformed with candles on every surface—so many that the culminating moment is punctuated by fire sprinklers going off and soaking the happy couple, as everyone else peers through the window blinds.

One reason that this episode, “Garage Sale,” stands out for me is because it captures what’s special about the whole show: the way it is honest about the mundanity of everyday life and spaces, while also able to highlight how the sublime can occasionally break through even in the blandest of surroundings.

Consider the main set for the series—the office itself—which is perfectly, beautifully mundane. It’s a symphony of neutral colors, ceiling tiles, nondescript furniture, and fake plants. To create the feeling of a real workplace, cast members regularly served as background actors in scenes where they didn’t have any lines. They used the time to do exactly the kind of things actual office workers do when they have downtime at their desks: pay bills, shop online, read, and write emails. This authentic behavior contributes to the familiar, everyday feel of the show.

A lot of the moments of joy from the show’s early seasons are drawn from the delight of everyday environments becoming exceptional. One of my favorites comes from “Office Olympics,” when Michael and his Assistant [to the] Regional Manager Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) leave midday and the remaining employees play improvised games using office supplies. When Michael returns, rather than hiding their Olympic fun from him, they award him the gold medal. Even though the whole thing is silly and irreverent, the moment of celebration is real.

It’s hard to choose a favorite from the dozens of perfectly performed cold opens, but one of mine is from “Gossip.” Michael, Dwight, and Andy (Ed Helms) attempt to film a parkour video, jumping over chairs, somersaulting onto couches, and leaping from desk to desk. The silliness of the bit rests substantially on the three of them constantly shouting “Parkour!” while clumsily attempting unimpressive tricks. Despite their clumsiness, it’s also delightful to see the familiar set navigated in new (and ridiculous) ways.

Some of the other transcendent moments in the show take place in offsite but equally mundane spaces. Jim proposes to Pam at a gas station. On an outing at the mall food court, Pam, Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) and the other women of the office offer Michael sincere relationship advice. The Dundie Awards take place at a Chili’s. These are everyday places that look similar all across America. Yet what makes these scenes remarkable is the everyday beauty of the actions we witness.

The Office is full of examples of the most everyday spaces made special by what happens there—friendship, goofiness, romantic love. It reminds me of how the Bible is full of stories of spots that are made special because of what took place in that location—because of what God did there. In the Old Testament, places are even marked with stones and given special names to remember encounters with God.

While The Office shows surprising examples of the every day made sublime by human creativity and emotion, the Bible shows everyday places made special by God’s creativity and love. A river crossing is remembered with 12 stones. A city is renamed because of a vision from God. The Sea of Galilee figures greatly in the gospel’s redemptive narratives, yet my friends who have visited it were surprised it was so small and . . . normal.

This is the beauty of the incarnation. Jesus didn’t arrive in a place that was notable, as an all-powerful, otherworldly being. He came as a human, sharing in all of our humanness. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” people asked of him. The beauty of that question is that the answer is, “Yes!” Something good can come out of anywhere! Goodness comes from God and God is everywhere, from the depths to the heavens. His Spirit is ever about the work of redemption, even at a small paper company in Scranton, Penn.

What a comfort for us, who spend so much of our lives in mundane, familiar spaces. It’s good for me to remember that God shows up in my kid’s room in the middle of the night, on my short walk to the park, on a video chat with my parents, and in my college classrooms. God shows up in the church sanctuary when the sermon speaks to my heart, when the worship band plays my favorite song, and when I’m moved by a thoughtful and sincere prayer. But he’s also there on those Sundays when it feels like an obligation or sometimes it’s just too hard to go at all.

Sometimes I want to ask, can anything good come out of me? Because much of my life feels like an episode of The Office: full of difficult people, like me, being difficult and self-involved and toiling away at nothing particularly important. But God shows us over and over again that regular people in everyday places are exactly the ones he works through. We just have to listen for God’s voice, even if we’re in the mall food court.

This article was originally published in 2019 as part of our Theology of The Office ebook.

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At Think Christian, we encourage careful cultural discernment. We recognize and respect that many Christians choose not to engage with pop culture that contains particular content, such as abuse, sex, violence, alcohol or drug use, or that employs the use of coarse language. To that end, we suggest visiting Common Sense Media for detailed information regarding the content of the particular pieces of pop culture discussed in this article.