In this episode, we dive into what it really means to chase happiness and why God cares more about our joy than we think.

Dorothy opens with a personal story about a time she feels God has “spoken” directly to her through other people. A pastor at Malibu Presbyterian Church points her back to a favorite verse, Philippians 4:6, and tells her to read the verses before and after. That simple instruction becomes, in Dorothy’s words, God’s own prescription for happiness: “Don’t worry, be happy… and meditate.”

From there, they jump into two surprising happiness guides:

• The Dalai Lama – through the new documentary The Wisdom of Happiness, directed by Barbara Miller, who joins the show.
• Pope Leo XIV – and his very relatable list of four favorite films, including It’s a Wonderful Life, The Sound of Music, Ordinary People, and Life is Beautiful.

Barbara shares what it was like to spend years making a film with the Dalai Lama in the Himalayas: his giggle, his simplicity, his teaching on loving others and loving yourself, why happiness starts with training the mind, and how he holds zero bitterness toward those who exiled him from Tibet. Dorothy and Jason reflect on guilt, anxiety, compassion, climate change, and what it might mean to really see every person as part of one human family not “us vs. them,” just we.

The episode closes with a tease of their upcoming conversation with legendary Los Angeles news anchor Pat Harvey, a woman Dorothy calls “the voice, the face, the heart of LA.”

In This Episode

• Dorothy’s story of God “talking” to her through a pastor and Philippians 4:6
• Why “Don’t worry, be happy” might actually be biblical
• The Bible and meditation: “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely… think on these things”
• Pope Leo’s four favorite films – and why Ordinary People is the surprise gut-punch on the list
• Joyce Meyer, guilt, and why God moves on faster than we do
• Dorothy’s “joy triggers” – ocean views, her son and daughter-in-law, and their dogs
• Director Barbara Miller on:
  
  • Spending five years making The Wisdom of Happiness The Dalai Lama’s giggle and what it reveals about his view of the world
  • Training the mind as the key to happiness
  • Loving others without losing yourself
  • Separating the actor from the action
  • Why he believes the next Dalai Lama could be a woman
  • How archival footage of a young Dalai Lama playing in the snow changes how we see him
  • The idea that there is no “we vs. they”—only we

Scripture & Ideas Mentioned

• Philippians 4:4–8
  
  • “Be anxious for nothing…” (v. 6)
  • “Rejoice in the Lord…” (v. 4)
  • Whatever is true, whatever is noble… think about such things.” (v. 8)
• Joy triggers – paying attention to small moments of joy and inviting God into them
• Loving your enemy by seeing their humanity while still rejecting harmful actions

Films & Resources Mentioned

• The Wisdom of Happiness – documentary featuring the 14th Dalai Lama, directed by Barbara Miller wisdomofhappinessfilm.com
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• Ordinary People (1980)
• Life is Beautiful / La Vita è Bella (1997)

Coming Up Next

Dorothy and Jason sit down with Pat Harvey, longtime Los Angeles news anchor and woman of deep faith and joy. They’ll talk survival in TV news, sharing your heart from the anchor desk, and what faith looks like when the cameras are off.