And the Oscar goes to...

So, last night was the Academy Awards (apparently). I had no idea about this. I had heard nothing about it from anyone, so I was completely in the dark. This is usually an exciting time for me, being an avid movie buff. I always look and watch and hope my favorite movies win (which they do from time to time, if they even get nominated). It's always fun to see big name celebrities (and a bunch of other people who make you wonder "how the heck did they get invited to the Oscars?") present awards to their fellows. I'm often quite upset with the outcome, and with the Oscars in general, however. It seems that, too frequently, the movies are awarded because of their obscurity, their "artsy" appeal, or how controversial they were, rather than the actual caliber and merit. Movies that are well written, directed, acted, and portrayed are often overlooked because they didn't tick people off. But that's besides the point.
The point of the Academy Awards are to award the people who worked on these films for their hard work, and to honor their creations. Many months, even years, of labor were put into them: from concept, to script, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, casting, marking, filming, editing... the process is a long one, and I would imagine rather painful. You can run into many problems that could set back the deadline, or even threaten cancellation. But, the cast and crew work through all these set backs, and out comes a (hopefully) fantastic movie. And, if the Academy approves... Oscar Gold!
Our lives are a constant work in progress. There is a long process of making it the best that we can. There is a lot we have to do, tons of rewrites, and lots of set backs. But, we have to endure these things, and just push forward, and eventually we'll have our finished product. How much time and effort we put into our masterpiece will be evident. How was the character development? Did the director seem to really care about the message being conveyed? Were there any plot holes? We are director, producer, writer, and star of our own movie. And the Academy is (you may have guessed): Heavenly Father. He watches every single movie that's put out there, and He judges each one. He watches for any little flaws there might be, and chooses which is deserving of the prize. We're all striving for that goal, that "Oscar": we all want to return to live with our Heavenly Father. So, it's up to us to make the best movie possible, and if we do, when time comes, Heavenly Father will open that envelope, and say "And the Oscar goes to... You".