My daughter has been raving about Lois Lowry's book "The Giver" so I decided to read it today. It's no wonder that this book won the Newberry Award. Written in 1993, it predates many of the distopian books that are popular at present (Hunger Games, Matched, etc.) but offers a unique take in the form of the wise title character. Without giving too much away, this man shows great compassion in the way that he teaches young Jonas and carries the burdens for others.
The one thing that struck me is how glorious it is to have variety because that allows for choices and agency. The society in this book had chosen to standardize everything and create a very predictable and safe existence. While there was no hunger or contention, there also was no beauty or color, joy in families or opportunities to think for one's self. 12-year old Jonas says, "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?" We have an inherent need to choose. Choice allows for a variety of experiences and those experiences serve to teach us, even as they sometimes teach us pain and less pleasant emotions. While no one wants to experience pain, feelings are a great privilege. Feelings, emotions and senses offer richness to life and give the difficult moments purpose.
I am really grateful to have the freedom to make choices for myself. There are good choices and not so good choices but they are mine to make. I can not choose the consequences for my choices though and am grateful that consequences help me understand the best choices for my life. Bad choices help me understand why I want to make better ones in the future. And likewise, the most joyful moments of my life have not been a result of happenstance but as a wonderful consequence of good choices.
So the question becomes, what will I do today to really value this privilege to choose?
"As for me and my house, we will choose the Lord." - Joshua 24:15
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