Lives of Sacrifice and Service

My friend JoAnn and I blindly chose a movie to watch together on Thursday. I say blindly, but in actuality we had both read a review and came away from it thinking we would be watching a love story. It was anything but. It was Never Let Me Go based on the novel by Ishiguro. The storyline centered around clones that were intentionally created in order to supply vital organs for their "originals" as needed. It was rather horrifying to say the least.

Of course, since the original, cloned sheep Dolly was created in 1996, many issues have arisen regarding the ethics and morality of the process. Many have gone on to speculate about how clones might be used to extend life almost indefinitely. The movie version raises not only those issues but also focuses on whether clones have souls, can be original and creative themselves, or can fall in love and experience the same emotions as all people.

The movie also centers perhaps on a larger theological issue. At one point near the end of the movie, the Garden of Eden is alluded to as one character is reading to another. Could the author of the novel have been also pondering the destiny of God's creations? We are taught as Christians, for example, that our purpose in life is to live lives of sacrifice and service just as Jesus did. At what point can, and do we, decide if sacrifice for others is too demanding and will eventually exhaust us? Are we like clones who blindly accept this purpose here on earth?

The movie is intriguing--not necessarily one I would have chosen with more information on its content. It is, nevertheless, one I cannot easily forget.