Giving Up Our Lives
Sacrifice
“There will be countless occasions to give witness to Christ, to give up our life for the sake of Christ. There will be many opportunities for us to “lay down our life” for another person in need, probably even today – and not in some kind of ostentatious act of heroism and notoriety, but more likely in some very mundane and rather hidden way.”—Br. Curtis Almquist
Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Sacrifice is perhaps a word we have forgotten or lost in our vocabulary. We have become so polarized because we cannot sacrifice what we believe and listen to each other. Yet, we know we are so right.
First of all, the sacrifice we are required to do is just listen to those who think so differently than we do. On the surface, we see only that they are trying to take away our rights and the rights of others. They are so wrong. The sacrifice may just involve being able to listen to this other side. How did they get there? What triggered their fears? My experience is that people who are wounded most of all want someone to listen to them and their stories. Then maybe they will listen to our story. It is not a quick fix. It takes time. It means we consciously look for the Christ in each other. This may take years.
We are still very much in this pandemic. Everyone I now talk to knows someone who has died or been infected, most often a beloved family member, even like ourselves who have been vaccinated. We so desperately want to be together again, back to our old life. This is not going to happen unless each of us makes sacrifices. We must continue to stay separated, wear masks, and get vaccinated. We cannot live the life we once had. Things will be different. Mostly we will be missing so many whom we so dearly loved unless we continue to make sacrifices. This time in our lives calls for sacrifice.
The hardest sacrifices for us are not being able to see our family members we so love. Right now, we may have to settle for seeing our grandchildren like Zoe and Turner through a picture window. But, we look to the celebration later.
Sacrificing for the whole has been ingrained in our country’s DNA. We must remember our history and re-member. We are called to become members of the body instead of a mass of individuals with shouting voices and our fingers in our ears.
Joanna. joannaseibert.com.
