I grew up watching Disney movies on VHS in our small home in eastern Montana. As a child, I seriously think we were close to having the whole entire collection of Disney animated movies ever made. We passed many of hours watching the creations of animated films that came our way.

It had been years since I had watched Disney movies. But now with a 6 and a 5 year old in our home, we have been watching old and new animated children’s shows. I enjoy them just as much now as I did then!

But here is what I didn’t realize. There was always talk of how much subliminal message was in Disney’s movies. Now that I am an adult, I can relate. There are way more messages embedded in those movies, as well as a great deal of adult humor, than I ever could have imagined. My level of appreciation for the story lines has continued to increase!

I’ve watched Beauty and the Beast no less than 20 times I have no doubt. Last night, with two children on my lap, we rewound Beauty and the Beast from the night before and started fresh from the very beginning. No phones. No distractions. We just sat and watched the movie.

In the very beginning Belle’s father is taking his genius creation to the invention fair with his trusty horse. As it becomes darker, he and his trusty horse are trusting their path less and less. The come to a fork in the road. The left is a lighted and groomed road. The right is a dark and overgrown path. The horse tries to go to the left, Belle’s dad forces the horse to go down the dark path. He eventually gets deep in the woods and realizes he is lost, and has taken the wrong path. He then blames the horse for taking him the wrong direction, although he was the one who misguided the horse.

My kids didn’t hesitate to ask. “Mom, why didn’t he take the path that was lit? What does the light and the dark path stand for?? At this point, I am thinking to myself, I’ve watched this movie umpteen times. How has that never stood out to me like it did in this moment?

My response:

“Light represents the good in the world. Darkness represents the not so good things. The  horse trusted his gut, and although he was lost, he felt that the lit path was the right route. The man, didn’t trust his horse and led him down the dark path.”

P&W :”Why didn’t the man trust the horse if he knew the dark path was bad?”

“Well he wasn’t following his gut.”

P&W: “So all things that are dark are bad?”

“Nope.” I said. “If we didn’t have darkness and the sun was out all day, our bodies wouldn’t get enough rest. And then we would be tired all the time. Without darkness, we would never see the stars. Or, if the sun was out all day we might get sunburnt! Not all dark is bad. Do you want to hear a song I know?”

P&W: “YES!”

“I learned it a very long time ago at bible school. It goes like this.”

“This little light of mine,
I’m gonna to let it shine,
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna to let it shine,
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna to let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

I asked Wic, “Do you know the only thing that fights darkness?”

“What?”, he said.

“Light. It’s the light within all of us. The only way to fight darkness is with more light. You were made to let your light shine.”

It was my reminder that there are only one of each of us made, and perfectly crafted to bring our gifts to the world. There are no duplicates. We are each made for a beautiful and unique purpose, with special gifts and offerings. We are made to let our light shine, so that each of us may bring our gifts to the world for the betterment of ourselves and others. We are hardwired to acknowledge the difference between light and darkness and to trust our gut, our inner wisdom and internal compass that guides us on our paths. Sometimes, we simply ignore the obvious because we are too busy trying to protect what we “know” to be true. When in fact truth lies within us. It is always there if we just, simply, trust it.

Life’s teachable moments are often times unexpected. I’m so thankful that 15 minutes of Beauty in the Beast was a gift to all of us last night.

Let your light shine people.

I’m gonna to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. 🙂

xoxo

Bethany