Read More @HJ Reviews: The Dangers Of Assuming Yo Previews: Trailers, Photos, Wallpaper, Overview David Bruce, Webmaster

Several months ago, I wore a brightly colored hat out for the day. The sky was overcast and the air a bit on the chilly side. By the time I returned home, five different people had commented on my hat, specifically on how much they liked the bright colors. And after watching Horton Hears a Who!, I have to say, it kind of reminds me of my hat—simple, bright, and happily out of place amid the often gloomy and much more complicated world that surrounds it.

Horton Hears a Who! is the story of Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) and a speck of dust. One day, as that speck of dust floats by, Horton thinks he hears it crying out for help. When he hears the cry, he runs to save the speck from drowning. When he saves the speck from drowning, he discovers that that the speck is home to a town called Whoville and the hundreds of Whos who live there. When Horton discovers the Whoworld he holds in his hands, he makes it his mission to take the Whos to a place where they will be safe. But when others in the jungle find out Horton is talking to a speck and claiming that it is home to a tiny world filled with tiny people, let's just say not everyone is exactly on board with Horton's mission.

The problem is, while Horton has no trouble believing in a world that extends beyond his own, many of the characters do. As he sees it, "maybe they aren't small, maybe we're big." Maybe there's even someone out there bigger than him and his world, and he and his friends are actually the small ones. And what about the fact that he doesn't have any more proof than a tiny voice only he can hear? As long as that voice calls out for his help, Horton isn't about to tell it that it doesn't exist.

But for Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), the self-proclaimed Queen of Horton's jungle, Horton's behavior is unacceptable. "If you can't see, hear, or feel something," she says, "it doesn't exist." To believe in a tiny world on a speck of dust is absolutely ridiculous. To share that belief is to undermine the existence of the "real" world they all live in. And to let Horton continue spreading the idea that there is any other reality beyond their own is something she is not willing to do.

Down in Whoville, the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell) encounters similar problems. At first, even he doesn't believe in Horton and the greater world that Horton tells him about. But then, when he does, no one else will believe him. Their world is the only world they have ever known. Their world has never been anything other than absolutely perfect and completely self-sufficient. And to believe in a bigger world all around them—much less a giant elephant who holds their survival in his hands—is absurd.

So Horton gives his all to try get Whoville to safety. Kangaroo does everything she can to stop Horton from spreading his obviously deluded fantasies. The Mayor does his best to get his town to recognize the greater forces at work around them. And in the end, the question that will decide whether Whoville survives or not becomes one of belief. Will Horton be willing to stand by his belief even if it comes at a price? Will the Whos allow themselves to see that they aren't the center of the universe and that they may need to call upon something bigger to survive? And when the Whos call, will Horton's jungle friends open their narrow minds to hear the Whos' cry for help and actually do something about it?

At the end of it all, Horton Hears a Who! is a movie that is very much about faith. It is about believing in something greater even if you can't see it right before your eyes. And it is about recognizing a plan and a purpose that is bigger than ourselves and the immediate world around us.

In many ways, Horton is somewhat of a God figure. He literally holds the Whos' world in his hands. When the Whos face destruction, he is the only one who can save them. As he puts it when he realizes what a responsibility he has, "I'm the one holding the speck!!!!"

If Horton is like God, then we are like the Whos. Very often we live as if we are the only person/family/city/country that matters. We come to believe that we are perfect, that nothing about us or our world could ever be wrong, and that we do not and never will have any need for anyone else's help. But the thing is, behind every façade of perfection and togetherness are worlds and people on the brink of falling apart. And the truth is, we all need something bigger and stronger to help us make it through this life.

Fortunately, God is both very much like Horton and more. Like Horton, his love for us means he was willing sacrifice himself so that we might live. If he must climb across rickety bridges to help us to safety or sort through millions of clovers to find us when we are lost, he will do it. As Horton says many times throughout the movie, "a person's a person, no matter how small." And thankfully, God believes the same. Even though we are nothing compared to him, he sees each of our lives as invaluable. And even though our lives are small, he knows that each of them is not only worth saving, but worthy of being a part of his amazing plan.

As Horton says during the course of his journey to save Whoville, "Wow, I feel good now. Maybe it's my sense of purpose." And when I take a moment to think about my own life, about the many times I have been rescued from my own destruction, and the reality that almost every journey I have been on has been greater than I could ever have imagined for myself, I have to say, I can't help but feel pretty good too.