Avatar and Depression and Suicidal Thoughts

As Avatar has been playing in the theatres there have been some reports of people feeling depressed and experiencing suicidal thoughts as a result of watching this movie.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Avatar-driving-us-to-suicide-say-fans/articleshow/5436823.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Avatar-driving-us-to-suicide-say-fans/articleshow/5436823.cms

Apparently this feeling of depression, and of suicidal thoughts, is brought about because people can not get to Pandora. The mere fact that Pandora is fictional does not seem to impact these people and their thoughts. The reason for this is that there appears to be archetypal thought of wanting to return to the Garden of Eden from which mankind was cast out in Genesis 3:22-24. To see some aspects of the Garden of Eden, in the movies, appears to elicit these longings that only God can solve.

In the Bible God declares that:

Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpents meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

The Tree of Life, which had been in the center of the Garden of Eden, will one day be accessible to God’s people again. The hope for Christians is that by walking with Jesus one day we will be able to return to this wonderful place and pick up where Adam and Eve left off.

God has promised to grant to us special blessings in our fellowship with Him. In I Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” This assurance is available for people who want what the Garden of Pandora has offered. God wants us to long after that beautiful place that was the perfection of all, which God created in the beginning. That place where sin drove us out of is waiting for us to return. In order to get there we will have to study the things of God and accept His gift of returning to Eden, by faith. That which fantasy movies speaks to can happen in the reality of life. This is God’ promise, that Avatar only suggests. God’s reality is better than Avatar’s suggests.

So to those who feel frustrated, depressed, or suicidal, don’t get stuck in the mud of old thinking. If you really want to go to someplace like Pandora, or better, then the best way to get there is to talk to God about it and be willing to go with Him to the place that He has created for you.