Sacrifice

Not long ago we celebrated ANZAC Day.  There was a common theme in the remembrances. Sacrifice.  People willingly gave up their own lives so we could enjoy the freedom we have. “They shall not grow old…,” “Lest we forget.”

A popular song was written called sacrifice.  It was about marriage apparently.  Seems apt to me.  For two to become one involves sacrifice on the part of both.  The reward is great, but it really seems the size of the reward depends on the willingness of participants to forgo their own way for the couple’s way.  It is “forsaking all others...”  Some people want to have their cake and eat it too but from what I have seen that never ends well.

I have found that sacrifice can be easy, and it can be hard. In my work life I found sacrifices fairly easy.  I had tasks to perform and occasionally it meant giving up on my ideas and going with the bosses.  Same outcome but a different way of getting there.  He was fond of saying (paraphrased) “it may not be what you want to do, but it is what I want you to do.”

It really is the same story around the home.  I have hobbies.  They can cost, but when I want to do it, it is a no brainer.  I will willingly sacrifice some things in order to achieve what I want to achieve.

Table Tennis really represented a sacrifice I was unwilling to make.  I got so far and trained with someone really good, but to be really good myself involved more sacrifice than I was willing to make.  I see people that are really good.  It is a different level.  I guess it is a bit like golf.  I know the best players practice shots from all sorts of weird positions.  They may never need them but if they do, then they can.

I will never forget Greg Norman losing one of the US Opens.  His opponent had what was considered a virtually impossible shot, but I remember his caddy saying, “You can do this.  You have been here before.”  He holed it.

Chiang Kai-shek was referring to patriotism, but he could have been talking about so many things. “Patriotism demands of us sustained sacrifice.”  I reckon the key word there is sustained.  Getting anywhere demands that what I pursue is not done in a flash in the pan manner.  I really need to be in it for the long hall.

A definition I like of sacrifice is, “an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else…”  Sacrifice always costs.  But the cost is considered worth it because the value of the replacement is worth more.

Sacrificing associations I find hard.  Sometimes an association is no good for me.  Several of my mates I had to forgo as they were no good for me.  Others could see it, but I was blind to it.  It was a case of letting them live their lives and I living mine.

Mahatma Gandhi said some really surprising things. “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”  Christianity to me involves not only the sacrifice of its founder but sacrifice on my part every day as I pursue His will.