Saturday, September 18, 2010

Graceful Choices and the Freedom to Make Them

"We cannot go back. That's why it's hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible" (Nemo in the film Mr. Nobody)

I haven't had the opportunity to view Mr. Nobody, as it hasn't been released in my part of the world, but it seems to be about the many choices a person is faced with and the ramifications of those choices which in turn leads to the many possible lives a person can or could live.

It seems that this film has left some with the feeling that life is beautiful eye candy with no absolute meaning.

"As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible." If we don't choose, then another will choose for us, and often it is the opportunists and power-hungry that take advantage of our inability to make a choice. Not making a choice is a choice -- the choice to be powerless and allow others to make choices for us -- to remain a helpless and dependant child.

"As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible" for evil to succeed unhindered.

This is the problem with most societies and groups of people. They think that choosing a certain leader will be an easier choice than having to take personal responsibility for the choices they make. The leader will make the choices and pass the laws, which always end up limiting choice, even banning certain choices.

We see this with laws and with certain fundamentalist religions. The law gets carried away and says "Thou Shalt Not," rather than allowing a person the freedom to make a choice for themselves based upon the knowledge they possess and the risks they are willing to take.

And because we cannot go back in time and make the "right" choice it is very important that a society is free to make choices. A society where there is no freedom is one in which one is trapped in the choices they have made and cannot move forward or improve their situation with new choices. A free society must rely upon Grace as a crutch to hold it up when parts of it fail.

When there is no freedom to choose we see situations such as the recently publicised case in Iran in which a woman was sentenced to be stoned to death for having affairs with two men after her husband was murdered. In Iran this woman's choice leads to death. In a free society in which one is allowed the choice to make what may seem immoral decisions, this woman would be allowed the choice to mend her ways and get on with life and Grace would overlook her past mistakes if it saw that she was making healthier and wiser choices. If Grace couldn't cover her, she could make the choice to move to a place where no one knew of her past.

In societies where choice has been given over to a few elites there is no freedom to move about freely, travel where one chooses, move up in the world, leave bad relationships, eat what one chooses, work where one chooses, worship how one chooses, smoke where one chooses, wear what one chooses, etc., etc...

These are Disgraced societies.

In order for a movie such as Mr. Nobody to even come to fruition there must still be free choice alive and well in the world. This movie is about personal choice and love, but there is no personal choice or pursuit of true love unless one lives in a society in which the possibilities are endless.

My personal belief is that each of us has been chosen for the moment in time that we live in. If we don't make a choice to seize hold of the moment and the role we've been handed, another will step in and fill the role; but will another do it as well us us? The trick is taking that incredible role and doing the best with it that we possibly can. We've each been prepared for those great pivotal moments of choice and can bring unique passion and knowledge to the role we play.

We cannot go back, but we can move forward.

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