Now we turn our attention to an exploration of the heart and soul of Spiritual Cinema, a collection of works that define the genre. These are all must-see and must-see-again movies. If you’ve seen all of the following films, then you know what treasures they are – and we encourage you to see them again after you read our reflections on them. If you haven’t seen them, you’re in for a real treat. In our view, they represent some of the greatest works of art made since the birth of cinema.

Important notes: In the following … the “I” belongs to Stephen, who has watched and commented on hundreds of movies during the past ten years in his online column, The Movie Mystic.

It’s a Wonderful Life (December 20, 1946)

We begin with a movie so cherished that many of us cannot imagine the Christmas season without it. Any fan of Spiritual Cinema must give a deep bow to Frank Capra; and this movie, without a doubt, is his greatest contribution. This heartwarming classic is a familiar friend, one that still draws tears of joy almost 60 years after its 1946 debut. Each year this film finds its way into our hearts and homes come Christmastime – you can bet on stumbling upon its black-and-white images while flipping idly through the channels on a lazy winter day. In fact, its very presence on the TV screen heralds the holiday season.

It’s A Wonderful Life is simply a classic. To that end, identifying its spiritual message is easy enough to do. Understanding why audiences didn’t immediately care for this picture is not.

The film was released in 1946, just as America was climbing out of the debris of WWII. The nation’s focus was on a newly found sense of self-respect and dignity because it had survived an enormous challenge and prevailed. Americans won the war and they were ready to look forward, not back.

It’s A Wonderful Life was set in the 1930s during the Great Depression. At the time, audiences didn’t warm to a film that followed a broken, despairingly frustrated man in a time of great struggle who asked questions about our place in the world. People didn’t want to question the meaning of life – after all, they’d just won life.

Critics panned the film and gave it horrible reviews. The picture came and went and Capra thought he should seek a different line of work. Thankfully, movie lovers gave this picture a second chance and grew to accept it as years went by.

The story delivers a moving message about the power and primacy of love. It looks at our priorities as human beings and asks, “What would the world around us look like if we’d never been born?” The answer reminds us that the power of love should and does, transcend all else.

George Bailey (James Stewart) lives in the average small town of Bedford Falls. He has big dreams, an appetite for travel and adventure and he can’t wait to leave his humble beginnings behind. But when a young Mary (Donna Reed) wins his heart, George settles in to head the building and loan his father ran before his death.

George ultimately sacrifices his dreams for the good of his town, but when trouble finds him, he’s certain that he’s destroyed himself, his family and everyone around him. You see, he’s misplaced an $8,000 loan and sees no end in sight. And then, just as he ponders throwing himself off a snowy bridge into the icy waters below, an angel appears.

Clarence, the guardian angel in training, is a classic example of help always being available to us when we need it most. He shows George what Bedford Falls would have looked like without him... and his revelations are terrifying. Just as George is brought back to the present, he finds that the entire town has banded together to raise the money to keep him out of trouble.

This poignant turnaround tugs at the cinematic heartstrings of moviegoers everywhere. George sees his “wonderful life” and realizes that his family, friends and town are the truly important things in life. He may have given up on his dreams of travel and adventure, but he gained a loving wife, children and friends who would stand by him in his darkest hour.

In the last scene, a bell rings on the Bailey family’s Christmas tree. George’s young daughter tells him that every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. With that, George takes a look toward the heavens and gives Clarence a verbal thumbs-up, proclaiming, “Attaboy, Clarence!” George’s rousing cheer still brings a tear to my eye.

The love that surrounds George Bailey reminds us that no one who has friends, family and the presence of love can be a failure – and the end result is a great spiritual classic.

Star Wars (May 25, 1977)

There is a defining moment in the first Star Wars movie released (Episode IV: A New Hope), one that bears watching time and again. Since its message has become such a quintessential statement of Spiritual Cinema, it’s important to study the scene carefully.

Luke Skywalker must drop a bomb into a small opening in the Empire’s Death Star because he’s bent on thwarting the Emperor’s plan to destroy the rebellion (of which Luke is a part). The task is beyond the reach of even Luke’s computer, since the timing of the drop and the space into which it must fit are so precise. The clock is ticking, the pressure is awesome and as he nears his last chance to save the day, he hears Obi-Wan’s voice guiding him: “Trust the force, Luke. Reach out with your feelings.” These words and the emotion behind them, captivated a generation. As this book was being written, more than 25 years since the first one opened, the last entry in the series (Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) just opened to record-setting ticket sales. This is clearly a myth with legs.

Trust the force. These three words become more than a powerful lesson for Luke – they galvanize an entire approach to life and they’re a defining metaphor for Spiritual Cinema. This phrase has become an important concept in our culture and Gay and I believe that there are compelling reasons why this is so: not the least of which is that one of the challenges we face as a species is our ability to trust what we can’t see. Trust here is different from blind faith in that trust is earned, while blind faith is based on a lack of trust.

Blind faith, whether demanded or offered, is accepted with no basis in our experience. For example, if two people have known each other for a long time and one of them promises to do something for the other, dependence on that promise being kept is a matter of trust that’s been built up through similar experiences over the years. If, however, you meet someone for the first time and depend upon them to honor a promise they make to you, then that’s blind faith (and perhaps even martyrdom).

In this movie, Luke has been brought far enough along in his training as a Jedi that he has reason to trust the Force. Still, he must learn to put his ultimate trust in it, to prove himself in the heat of battle. This is a powerful metaphor because, as a humanity, many of us yearn to trust something beyond our ordinary senses. Classic religions originally demanded blind faith from their followers with the only justification being “God’s will.” Science then came in and used laboratory results as a justification for trust and it’s worked for hundreds of years. Recently, however, science has discovered within itself that the intent of the experimenter his- or herself has a powerful impact on the results of the experiment. Purely scientific answers have been brought into question by scientists themselves.

Now, like Luke, we’re being put to the test. Does the spirituality we’ve cultivated have a practical value in the real world of our jobs, relationships and political climate? As spiritual beings, we now search for the power within ourselves. The paradigm shift that author/philosophers such as Neale Donald Walsch and Richard Bach have brought to the forefront of world thought today is that, while there certainly is a power in the universe we know outside of us as God, the power within us is the connective tissue to our core spirituality. The journey of the entire transformational movement of the last 40 years has been to recognize, accept and embrace our inner union with the universe. “May the Force be with you” is a phrase that resonates with anyone who’s taken even the most hesitant first steps on a spiritual journey.

Luke Skywalker is urged to close his eyes and trust his own inner connection to the power of the universe. He’s called upon to claim his unique place within it and herein resides the crucial distinction. Luke doesn’t give his power away and pray that a God outside himself will smile benignly and grant his wish. Star Wars established what is, in essence, a new religious movement (what else could you call a phenomenon that inspires its devotees to camp out in the rain for days for the privilege of buying a ticket?) This movement is founded on a central concept that’s brought to life in one simple phrase: The Force is with you. It counseled Luke – and continues to counsel all of us – that he had the power within himself to own his full magnificence in the world.

The above excerpt has been taken from Spiritual Cinema. A Guide to Movies That Inspire, Heal and Empower Your Life by Stephen Simon and Gay Hendricks. Published by Hay House (December 2005) and available at bookstores or at www.hayhouse.com.