In Concert With the Transcendent

Growing up, religion was more a matter of culture than faith for my family. My true spiritual formation was shaped by celebrity culture. My aunt dutifully took up my father’s request to be my godmother (despite rarely attending church), but her daughter–my cousin–took on the role of my spiritual director, introducing me to the deities that inhabited the pantheon of late 1990s pop culture. She exposed me to the music, TV shows, tabloid magazines, and merch through which I would seek meaning in life. I came to identify with various fandoms, often fantasizing with intense longing about the day I would encounter my idols in the flesh.