INtheWORLD

Somebody bet me once that I couldn't write an essay in rhyming couplets. Challenge accepted. In this unique episode, we will exam Dr. Seuss's classic children's book Green Eggs and Ham as a metaphor for how to better follow the counsel of our Heavenly Father. You can listen here or there, yes you can listen anywhere!

Haters gonna hate, and one of the recurring doubts that I hear circles around the principle of free will in the form of the following question: if God is always doing what is in our best interest, how much “free-will” do we actually have? Great question; glad you asked. Using the 2016 Disney movie Moana, we discover that the answer to this question is a lot easier than we might think. "What can I say, except you're welcome!"

Is it possible that we've been approaching forgiveness in the wrong way? Often times, we think about forgiveness in terms of whether or not the offender is repentant, but, does that actually matter? Using the brilliant story and characters from season 3, episode 16 of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," we discuss the misconceptions about forgiveness and talk about how we can all do a little better to be a little more at peace when others do us harm.

There are Disney villains we love, Disney villains we hate, and Disney villains we love to hate. This episode is the first in a five part series about the top 5 most dangerous Disney villains and explores their fatal flaws while discussing scriptural evidence that condemns said flaws and provides guidance for how these wayward souls could have been better and--possibly--redeemed. 

At the beginning of the New Year, it's common to make goals and resolutions which often become a source of guilt and irritation in the following months. However, from a religious, long-term, eternal kind of perspective, are the small goals we set around New Year's actually distracting us from the bigger visions and dreams we should be aiming for? This episode explores "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and the value of dreams and larger vision instead of set-in-stone, micro-goals to guide our progress and improvement.

The beloved classic "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens shares a delightful tale about Ebenezer Scrooge and his journey of redemption. Traditionally, Scrooge is seen as both the protagonist and the antagonist in the story, but in this week's holiday episode, we'll be passing on the "sinner" label to other characters as we discuss the lesser-acknowledged elements of pride and how we can better love those around us.

This heartbreaking story of redemption and forgiveness has, at its core, a message about the conflict between justice and mercy as appropriate responses to mistakes and wrongdoings. In this episode, we turn the tables and assert that these principles of justice and mercy are actually in harmony, not conflict, and the typical assignments of Javert as the representative of justice and Jean Val Jean as the representative of mercy are incorrect. 

Nothing proves the importance of having a powerful personal testimony like a murder ballad from the early 2000s. This episode takes a close look at a story about vengeance from the upbeat country song "Goodbye Earl" by The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) and pares it down to a cautionary tale about the influence of others and building strong, independent moral convictions. 

What could be more appropriate during election week than to talk about our emotions? In Disney Pixar's 2015 movie "Inside Out," there is a lot of psychological truth. The scriptures also talk a lot about emotional management as it relates to our own spirituality and growth. In this week's episode, we compare the suggestions and science of psychology as shown in the movie "Inside Out" to the emotional advice of the scriptures.

In honor of Halloween, this episode features the 2004 Touchstone thriller movie "The Village" and discusses questions about faith and fear using examples from the life of the apostle Simon Peter in the New Testament as a comparison to the character Ivy Walker.