But even though Mr. Whittaker ends up returning home far sooner that it seems he would have liked, as the fireworks begin to explode around him, it is as if that truth that he has long known simply cannot be hidden any longer. As Mrs. Whittaker uses guilt and responsibility to draw John back to her, you can't help but sense the emptiness of obligation within any acts of "love" that might be returned. As a woman who was once assumed to be John's future bride says, while a marriage between her and John might have been convenient and mutually beneficial, she wants a love that has a bit more meat to it. And as John complains to Larita that he sees no use in bickering, smilingly says he wishes they could live in moments of bliss forever, and tells Larita he trusts her absolutely when in reality he barely knows her, the film even points to the emptiness of the most passionate love that is rooted in no more than surface level pleasantries. As Larita puts it when their conflict peaks, "You don't know what love is... You don't know what it means to love someone so much, you'd do anything for them." And as we learn more about Larita's past, we see that her fight for John and for a life fully lived is about much more than just rebellion; it is about love for people and a life that she sees as worth giving all she's got.

As Jesus says in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." And while not all of Larita's actions fit into that category, in at least a handful, we see that her rebellion is one that recognizes any relationship or path of value as one that is also worthy of her sacrifice and selflessness. More than just a way of living and loving that propels Larita forward, her spirit also reveals to others life and love worth moving towards. And in the same way that such a love finally seems to give Mr. Whittaker an answer that makes him want to go out and live, so too should the reality of God's sacrifice for our lives spurn us to step up to the task of loving and living with a boldness that recognizes the value of the lives we all have been given

Continue: 1 2