If we listen carefully, and squint hard enough, we can find the gospel plan hidden throughout Hollywood. There, on the big screen, we can find nuggets of truth, or at least, poetic lines to illustrate the plan of happiness. Consider:<\/p>\n
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Before we came to earth, we lived with Heavenly Parents, the family of our souls, whom we have never seen with our mortal eyes.\u00a0\u201cYou have another family, far away,\u201d said Ian Holm as Capitaine Phillippe D’Arnot in\u00a0Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes\u00a0<\/em>(1984); \u201cone you have never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n \n We lived with them in a beautiful preexistence, which probably looked an awful lot like the bright and peace-filled afterlife. \u201cIt’s easy to get turned around,\u201d said Alice Braga of that place as Jerry in\u00a0Soul<\/em>\u00a0(2000). \u201cThis isn’t the Great Beyond. It’s the Great Before.\u201d<\/p>\n \n There, our spirit bodies and all creations were formed from intelligence. \u201cLuminous beings are we, not this crude matter,\u201d acknowledged Frank Oz as Yoda in\u00a0Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u00a0(1980). Everything was first created spiritually. \u201cI know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name,\u201d testified Irene Bedard as Pocahontas in\u00a0Pocahontas\u00a0<\/em>(1995).<\/p>\n \n So, the Gods then created an earth for us to obtain bodies and to be tested.\u00a0Planet earth was a remarkable creation. \u201cIn the beginning, there was only ocean,\u201d noted Rachel House as Gramma Tala in\u00a0Moana\u00a0<\/em>(2016). But soon there were plants, animals, and humankind. The world is \u201ca wonderful place, filled with wondrous creatures,\u201d observed Leon Redbone as Leon the Snowman in\u00a0Elf\u00a0<\/em>(2003). We quickly realized like Mandy Moore as Jamie Sullivan in\u00a0A Walk to<\/em><\/p>\n Remember\u00a0<\/em>(2002) that \u201cMaybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \u201cKnow that you’re going to be tested every step of the way,\u201d we were told by our Heavenly Father before we came to earth, to use the words of Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which in\u00a0A Wrinkle in Time<\/em>\u00a0(2018). We surely optimistically replied like Tate Donavan as Hercules in\u00a0Hercules\u00a0<\/em>(1997) as we left His presence and came to earth: \u201cI won\u2019t let you down, father!\u201d<\/p>\n \n We were born into families. “In this life, family is the most precious gift we are given,\u201d taught Maria Konstadarou as Yia Yia in\u00a0The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants\u00a0<\/em>(2005), \u201cThe most sacred,” as Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto in\u00a0Fast & Furious 4\u00a0<\/em>(2009) put it, \u201cThere’s nothing stronger than the bond of family.\u201d<\/p>\n \n While on earth, we learn to have faith to get through life\u2019s path. \u201cWe cannot be lost as long as we keep faith in God and in ourselves,\u201d said G\u00e9rard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus in\u00a01492: Conquest of Paradise\u00a0<\/em>(1992). After all, our Heavenly Father does live and still anxiously watches over us in this life. \u201cHe lives in you. He lives in me,\u201d said Robert Guillaume as Rafiki in\u00a0The Lion King<\/em>\u00a0(1994). \u201cHe watches over everything we see.\u201d<\/p>\n \n We can pray to our Heavenly Father when times get tough. \u201cAlways keep a prayer in your pocket,\u201d advised Meryl Streep as Aunt March in\u00a0Little Women<\/em>\u00a0(2019). Because life does have trials. \u201cIt’s supposed to be hard,\u201d remarked Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in\u00a0A League of Their Own<\/em>\u00a0(1992). \u201cThe hard is what makes it great.\u201d<\/p>\n \n In the test of life, we continuously have opportunities to choose the right. \u201cOur lives are the sum of our choices,\u201d declared Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge in\u00a0Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One\u00a0<\/em>(2023). And Kristen Bell as Anna in\u00a0Frozen 2<\/em>\u00a0(2019) encourages us to \u201cJust do the next right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n When we make mistakes\u2014and we all will\u2014we can always choose to rise up. \u201cWhy do we fall sir?\u201d asked Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth in\u00a0Batman Begins<\/em>\u00a0(2005). He answers, \u201cSo that we can learn to pick ourselves up.\u201d God loves effort and loves the repentant! \u201cGod has a long history of working through flawed people,\u201d said Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith in\u00a0Jesus<\/em><\/p>\n Revolution\u00a0<\/em>(2023).<\/p>\n \n Eventually, we may fall in love and start a family of our own. \u201cPeople do fall in love,\u201d observed George Peppard as Paul Varjak in\u00a0Breakfast at Tiffany’s<\/em>\u00a0(1961). \u201cPeople do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance that anyone’s got for true happiness,\u201d he said. And thanks to the covenant path where we can be married for time and all eternity, death need not end a happy marriage! \u201cDeath cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while,\u201d correctly pointed out Cary Elwes as Westley in\u00a0The Princess Bride<\/em>\u00a0(1987).<\/p>\n \n In fact, because of temple ordinances, we can wield together generations of our ancestors. \u201cA thousand generations live in you now,\u201d said Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in\u00a0Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker\u00a0<\/em>(2019).\u00a0\u201cOne weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty,\u201d warns Patrick Stewart as Seti in\u00a0The Prince of Egypt<\/em>\u00a0(1998).<\/p>\n \n In time, our sojourn on earth comes to an end. \u201cDeath is just a part of life, something we’re all destined to do,\u201d said Tom Hanks as Woody in\u00a0Toy Story 3<\/em>\u00a0(2010). But it is not the end of\u00a0us<\/em>. \u201cEnd? No, the journey doesn’t end here,\u201d said Ian McKellen as Gandalf in\u00a0The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King\u00a0<\/em>(2013). \u201cDeath is just another path. One that we all must take.\u201d<\/p>\n \n When we pass on, we enter into a glorious place of peace and rest. \u201cThere is a happy land, far far away, where saints in glory stand bright, bright as day,\u201d noted Terry Saunders as Lady Thiang in\u00a0The King and I<\/em>\u00a0(1956). And as angels we do not abandon our loved ones still remaining on earth. \u201cYou think the dead we loved truly ever leave us?\u201d rhetorically asked Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore in\u00a0Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban\u00a0<\/em>(2004). \u201cYou think that we don\u2019t recall them more clearly in times of great trouble?\u201d In fact, according to Samantha Morton as Agatha in\u00a0Minority Report<\/em>\u00a0(2002), \u201cThe dead don’t die. They look on and help.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Ultimately, we all receive our final judgement. \u201cAll accounts are balanced in the end,\u201d said Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne in\u00a0Batman vs Superman<\/em>\u00a0(2016). And in hindsight, our time of testing on earth will seem so brief. \u201cA whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven,\u201d said Robin Williams as Chris Nielsen in\u00a0What Dreams May Come\u00a0<\/em>(1998). \u201cThen we’ll all be together forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
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