Movies That Make a Difference

We live in a rapidly changing world. One thing that many of us do to relax is watch movies. Yesterday I watched one that I had checked out of the local public library titled "My Name is Khan." I believe it will have an impact on almost everyone who watches it who has a heart for the people in our world. It definitely stirred my soul. We need to have more movies like this that can emotionally charge people so that they take action knowing that even one person can make a real difference just like this man did. Although I think that this was a fictional story, it rung so true and touched on so many things we can all relate to, it seemed real- like a composite of actual stories that did happen in the past several years to various people.

My favorite movie growing up was the Sound of Music. I thought the character of Maria, played by Julie Andrews, was a great role model. She had a caring heart, was full of fun and pure joy, innovative- remember her taking the curtains and turning them into outfits for the kids?- and when faced with a huge challenge at the end of the movie helped her family flee the country they loved to start over again in a new place. The Von Trapp Family's story was a true one, and that may be when I decided that I wanted to have a loving marriage and large happy family. I wanted to be a giving person like Maria was, and love deeply, so that motion picture had a real effect on my life.

Hearing the beautiful music and lyrics "Climb every mountain, Ford every stream, Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream" was powerful motivation back then, and are words still meaningful to me so many decades later.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is another movie I watched recently that was based on an actual story. In the Bible there are stories of people being stoned to death. I had never understood how it actually took place. This film lets you get to know the people, their culture and beliefs, and the circumstances first. The stoning scene wrenched my heart. The tears flowed. I could not comprehend how people could do that to anyone, no matter what. The fact that she was innocent of what she was convicted of made it that much harder.

Afterward, I realized that lately I've been feeling strongly a call to help people become aware of what is happening both in my own country as well as throughout the world and that is why I have been drawn to movies that shed light on issues that affect the lives of people, animals, and nature.

Whether it is about people being treated unfairly, not having even the basics in life- water,food,medical care, clean air, freedom of religion or it is something else such as health issues, finances, lack of jobs, difficult relationships, or stronger issues such as war and crimes I want to let people know what is happening and ask they join me as I pray for healing of our world in every way and try to make a difference as I can.

Let's share ideas and inspiring stories together, educate people on a wide variety of topics, and unite to make the world a better place! Have you seen any films that you would recommend to others to watch to learn more about a particular topic? It could be about anything- about a disease, economics, civil rights, how to live a better life or have better relationships, or whatever it is you watched that has helped shed some light on a subject. Please share in the comments below. Thank you for reading,caring, and responding.