The Giver

I love this book. And I mean, I LOVE it. I read it several times when I was younger and then decided to read it again earlier this year. I'm so glad I did. I was able to see some things I hadn't seen before and other things I had perhaps seen before gained more significance.

If you haven't read it, you should. Period. But, if you just want a brief summary, here's the Wikipedia article. :) 

Here's some Giver goodness for you <3:

"'Giver,' Jonas suggested, 'you and I don't need to care about the rest of them.' The Giver looked at him with a questioning smile. Jonas hung his head. Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything." (156)

 It's all about love! Jonas left the Community because he loved the people there and wanted more for them. Life is all about love! Jesus Christ atoned for mankind because He loves us. When we have pure motives, we help those around us because we love them. Love makes life meaningful.

"All of it was new to him. After a life of Sameness and predictability, he was awed by the surprises that lay beyond each curve of the road. He slowed the bike again and again to look with wonder at the wildflowers, to enjoy the throaty warble of a new bird nearby, or merely to watch the way the wind shifted the leaves in the trees. During his twelve years in the community, he had never felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness." (172)

"If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love." (174)

 We are able to know happiness because we know opposition. Those living in the Community never knew the pain that comes from unrequited love because they never loved. Their perfect world never allowed for the growth that comes from experiencing hard things. It didn't provide the richness of life that is available to us because we have the privilege of feeling, of hurting and healing. Isn't life wonderful!

Oh! There's so much more I could and would say about this book if I had the time right now! But for now, I guess I'll have to suffice myself with this. Go read it :)