He gives us freedom

So a couple of days ago I went to see The Giver with my sister.  I read the book this summer so I was excited to see the film adaptation--but I was not expecting to see so many spiritual aspects and incredible spiritual parallels.  I'll try not to put any spoilers in here but I'm not promising anything so if you haven't read the book then be careful.  First of all, the whole premise of the story is a world in which everything is controlled and contrived in an attempt to create perfection for its citizens.  But the real result is a purposeless world and a people devoid of emotion, culture, and uniqueness.  The people have been brainwashed to the point where they have even lost the ability to see color, and the first portion of the movie is in black and white to illustrate this monotony.  There are strict rules that everyone must follow in order to keep the world the way that it is.  True love does not exist; instead, those who are chosen to be parents are paired together into family units, and receive children from birth mothers.  Every citizen takes daily injections (or pills, in the book) to eliminate the Stirrings (sexual feelings) and essentially all other emotion.  Only one person, the Giver, holds all memories of history and culture and all of the joys and heartache that those memories contain.  The people experience feelings, which are brief and fleeting, but do not understand the depth of true love, anger, joy, or sadness.

This attempt at utopia is exactly the opposite of what God intended for us.  He created people with free will so that we can not only choose to love Him but experience what it means to be loved, to be unique, to be emotional, spiritual beings.  Jonas, the main character in the Giver, is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, the new keeper of all experiences in the past.  In daily meetings, the Giver transmits memories to Jonas; memories of loving families, joyful dancing at weddings, the pain of death, the agony of war, the beauty of culture.  Jonas begins to understand, and desire, the deep emotions that he's been prevented from experiencing his entire life.  The movie paints a beautiful image of culture and diversity, showing clips from all over the world and portraying love in its many different manifestations.

I was struck by the parallels to the freedom that we have in Christ, who lets us choose to follow Him.  If we did not have free will, this world would be dreary and emotionless.  God gives us the freedom to love Him and love others, and the incredible diversity that results from the endless variety of people all over the world is amazing.  The elders of the Community were trying to create a world free of pain, both physical and emotional, by eliminating variability.  But a huge part of what makes life dynamic is emotions, and when emotions are lost, so is purpose.  Real life is full of hurt and anguish and difficult choices, but also joy and excitement and love.  Without these, there is no meaning to life.  And without God, we cannot experience love, joy, and peace to their fullest extents.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  Freedom to love Him and experience His gifts.  Freedom from the bondage to sin and decay.  Freedom to reflect God's glory and become more and more like Him.