(RNS) May 23 will bring us the series finale of “Lost” after six seasons of mind-numbing twists and turns.

If nothing else, the show has legions of devoted fans. Lostpedia.com is just one of hundreds of websites devoted to careful minute-by-minute deconstruction of each and every episode.

The series, if you haven’t seen it, follows the lives of survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 after it crashes on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific.

Both critically acclaimed and a popular success, “Lost” garnered an average of 16 million viewers per episode during its first year and has won numerous awards since.

Thematically, “Lost” is a spiritually evocative show. The original conceptwas a cross between “Lord of the Flies,” the Tom Hanks movie “Cast Away,” the television sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” and the reality show “Survivor.”

But when “Alias” creator J.J. Abrams got involved, he agreed to take the project on with one condition — the series would have a supernatural angle to it.

The spiritual plot thickened when he brought in co-writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, both of whom had experienced spiritual awakenings in the years leading up to “Lost.” Not aspiring to use the show as a vehicle to tell stories of personal redemption, by the sixth season the story of every lead character of the “Oceanic Six” has been developed and explored. (The “Oceanic Six” are the survivors of the flight who left the island and returned to civilization in 2005, only to later return to the island.)

Cuse has said “Lost” explores the question of “how does one lead a life.” Lindelof says during the show’s conception, he was grappling with spiritual issues prompted by his father’s death. At the same time, he was falling in love with his future wife and finding the spiritual connection he was seeking through exposure to her Catholic faith.

“For me,” Lindelof says, “`Lost’ is about the search for meaning.”

Pop culture increasingly has become a theological intersection where people stop to tell stories about God, learn about God and teach about God. “Lost” is just such a place.

Biblical references are a regular occurrence on the show. Mr. Eko carries a stick inscribed with Scripture; in one episode he repeats parts of Psalm 23. Jack’s last name is Shepherd, a metaphor for leader. Old Testament names abound: there’s a dark force at work on the island doing battle with a character named Jacob. Aaron (Moses’ brother), Benjamin, (Jacob’s youngest son), Isaac (Jacob’s brother) and Rachel (Jacob’s second wife) all appear. Christian apologist C.S. Lewis (real name: Clive Staples Lewis) even parachutes into “Lost” as a female character named Charlotte Staples Lewis.

Judeo-Christian references are layered upon other religious and philosophical traditions. Buddhists and Hindus see their traditions referenced in a multitude of ways.

If pop culture is a gauge of a culture’s mood, we can say that our fascination with “Lost” reveals the gravitational pull of our most ancient of stories and the questions they raise.

Does God exist?

Where is God when I feel lost?

How do I explain the miraculous and the forces of good and evil in daily life?

Is there an afterlife?

Is there such a things as justice?

Will right prevail over wrong?

Can the lost be found?

Will we keep going around in circles?

“Lost” continues the trend towards spiritual eclecticism employed in “Star Wars,” where director George Lucas put a bunch of religions in a blender and hit the puree button.

The finale of “Lost” will tie together some loose ends in the storyline, but the real-life questions will remain. It’s another reminder that contemporary culture may be the place where we do our God-talk — but it’s a lot better at asking the questions than giving us the answers.

(Dick Staub is the author of “The Culturally Savvy Christian” and the host of The Kindlings Muse (http://www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at http://www.dickstaub.com)