What does ‘sacrifice’ mean to you?

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says, “to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure, or destroy especially for an ideal, belief, or end…”  Whatever way you interpret these meanings, there’s a cost and some pain!

It is a very, very ancient concept.

The concept is that of giving up something to somehow engage the favour of an otherwise indifferent or even hostile universe, we need to make an offering, a sacrifice. It gets the universe’s attention and says that you are serious… it may even placate the wrath of an offended ‘deity’!

You and I may agree that this is an unfashionable worldview today, perhaps unnecessary, even archaic and primitive. However, the paradigm that we are somehow entitled to an easy and privileged life where nothing goes wrong doesn’t sit well with me.

Without meaning to sound negative, “Life” seems to be hugely inclusive of loss, suffering, and sacrifice. It is naturally a struggle.

Is this necessarily all a bad thing?

I don’t think so.

One of the greatest evils of modern culture is an ill-assessed sense of ‘entitlement’. I don’t think you and I are entitled to anything. You may beg to differ. For example, if you’ve paid into a Pension Fund, you may well expect a return on your investment. Even then, I’d suggest you are not entitled to a guaranteed improvement on what is essentially a bet – a gamble – a calculated risk.

What if we humbled ourselves and chose, instead, to become deeply grateful for the air we breath, the Sun we depend upon, the plants that convert the energy of the Sun into food we can eat, the water we drink (which should be free), the health we currently enjoy or miss… the list is as endless as our imaginations.

However, the Paradigm Shift is profound: moving from what we think we are owed, to that which we are simply grateful for.

And then, having rediscovered what we are grateful for, to make a sacrifice.

I live not far from Knowlton (ruined) Church and (Neolithic) Earthworks. This is a Neolithic Ring – with a ditch – over 4500 years old! It makes complete sense that it was, until recently, a focus of attention. The ruin of a Norman church lays in the centre of the Stones. It’s as if the English Church sought to strike out against the Neolithic faith at the roots of this sight. This was an arrogant failure. The church now lies ruinous within the rings. At the head of the rings are two ancient yew trees covered in multi-coloured ribbons and votive statements. I love the place, and purchased my own icon to add as a sacrifice of thanks for the creativity I’ve enjoyed all my life.

So… if you were to make a sacrifice to say thanks for an aspect of your life, what form would that sacrifice take?

Lex

A Moodscope member