If Independence Day celebrates the freedom to live as we please, I argue that Sunday is our celebration of freedom from falling in too deep.
Which is the greater freedom? Which do we embrace more fully? Which is more attractive? Why do we think that? Who can make these decision for us?
I watched “Choke” a few days ago. (It is rated R for a very good reason.) It surprised me. It was not at all what I expected.
The protagonist is struggling with his relationship with his insurrectionist mother, who raised him to develop such a strong emotional detachment from anyone, that he has become addicted to serial acts of physical intimacy, with absolutely no relationships.
Though the man is addicted to something that seems to instill intimacy, instead, he has approached it from such a detached point of view, that when he is attracted to a woman who offers herself, he is unable to pull together both the physical and emotional elements of a relationship.
The most unexpected moment in the movie for me was when one of the characters began to paraphrase Galatians 5. The action of love is what it takes to feel love. This then frees us from the filth that we live with every day, and frees us to live in the love that is offered.
It’s a shame that I would never be able to use that clip in a sermon, I think it would be a great illustration, but I could never tell someone to go watch this movie from the pulpit.
Quietly Rolling Thunder 