Christmas Temple Lights Mesa Arizona – LDS – Mormon

Dr. Mitzi shares a Christmas and Holiday Season message from the spectacular backdrop of the beautiful Mesa, Arizona Temple Garden Christmas Lights display. 

This year’s display  marks the 30th anniversary of the light extravaganza featuring hundreds of thousands of colorful twinkling lights, a large nativity display and holiday dioramas and is entitled Celebrate the Life of Christ in Lights and Music.  The gardens,  located at 525 E. Main Street in Mesa, are lit  from 5:30 until 10 p.m. each night through January 1, 2010. 

Each year approximately one million visitors, of all faiths and denominations come out to see the magnificent display.  Over 800 volunteers donate more than 10,000 hours of labor throughout the holiday season to create and maintain the display.  In addition to the breathtaking lights there’s also a Concert Series featuring free half-hour concerts given by a variety of groups and musical styles, presented at 7 p.m. each evening through December 31, 2009.

Admission and parking are free. Regardless of what winter holiday you are celebrating, or what faith you adhere to, this incredible display is sure to  "light " up  your season.   

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Blanket Donations for Animals

From Creative Living Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona, Dr. Mitzi shares how one congregation stepped up to answer the call for animals in need which was on an earlier episode. 

How can you be an ambassador for animals in crisis?  How can  your church, spiritual center, temple, organization or business help? Or how are you already helping? 

Here are a few of friendly reminders:

Spay and neuter all your animals.  Pet overpopulation means more crowded shelters and more innocent animals being euthanized. 

Adopt and encourage your friends to adopt from animal shelters and rescue groups.  There are so many animals in shelters that are on the e-list (euthansia) list who would love to be your forever friend. 

Educate yourself and others about the horrors of puppy and kitten mills. 

Shop for animal supplies at places that support local rescue adoptions. 

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Peace on Earth Cartoon from 1939 – Ahead of Its Time

Peace on Earth, directed by Hugh Harman,  is a one-reel classic 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon. Grandpa squirrel, in a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals,  tells his nephews about a terrible human war that occurred because men failed to follow the message in one of their favorite Christmas songs of "Goodwill to Men".  Incredible foreshadowing in that this cartoon was made in 1939 and in Sept of the same year Hitler’s tanks invaded Poland, thus marking the official start of WWII. 

Grandpa squirrel also delivers hope in his story, describing how the surviving animals found a Bible (referred to as the "human’s book of rules"),  in the ruins of a church. The animals are moved and inspired to rebuild the ruins of the place in which they live by the words they find in The Bible, especially those of the ten commandments. The society they rebuild, using the helmets of soldiers as the foundation for their homes, is based on peace and nonviolence. 

According to Hugh Harman’s obituary in the New York Times and Ben Mankiewicz, host of Cartoon Alley, the cartoon was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. However, it is not listed in the official Nobel Prize nomination database. Mankiewicz also claimed that the cartoon was the first about a serious subject by a major studio. It was also nominated in 1939 for the Academy Award for Short Subjects, but lost out to a cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse.  In 1994, it was voted #40 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.

Remake

In 1955 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera remade the cartoon in Cinema Scope with the title Good Will to Men.  The new version featured more destructive and updated forms of warfare.  The squirrels were replaced by mice as the main characters and the Bible is referred to directly as The Bible instead of as a book of rules. This new version was also nominated for the Best Short Subjects Oscar.

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