Sacrifice is on the minds of all Christians today, Good Friday.
We are reminded in our church services, in our scripture readings in private prayer and reflection that Christ died on the cross so that we as humans could live and be forgiven our sins.
I am proud to be a Christian and try to live a Christian life, but this is not a religious blog and I am not qualified to deliver a sermon.
So feel free to read on if you are of a different faith, atheist, agnostic, flower child, communicator with fairies or a worshipper of the universe.
In his Maundy Thursday sermon yesterday, our vicar spoke of sacrifice. Obviously that of Jesus Christ, but he also mentioned Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame the French policeman killed in a recent terrorist incident.
Col. Beltrame had swapped places with a woman being held hostage in a supermarket in Trebes, France. She survived, he was killed. As our vicar said, there can be no greater sacrifice than giving up one’s life for a stranger. I have risked my life for family and friends, fortunately with good outcomes for all involved. But could I do what Col. Beltrame did for a stranger? I don’t know. I hope I never have to face that test.
Sacrifice and the path of our lives
That made me think that life is a series of choices, choices involve the sacrifice of one or more alternatives.
Work or play, think creatively or waste time on social media, plan or take action, exercise or watch TV. Be proactive or succumb to distractions.
How we spend our time can involve the most life-altering sacrifices. Small as they may be individually, once they become entrenched they can result in huge success if we made the right choices or a life of regret and mediocrity if we didn’t.
My latest book purchase from Amazon arrived yesterday. “Triple Package -What Really Determines Success” by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. The authors identify three components of a package that gives some people a drive to succeed.Sacrifice an essential part of service and success? Click To Tweet
The little I have read of the book so far indicates that it is going to be a fascinating read, I will write more about it in future posts.
That one quote from the book shows why most of us never reach our potential. We are not prepared to sacrifice present gratification – much of it from meaningless time-wasters, social media, TV, so that we can work towards long-term attainment.
The celebration of Easter is a case in point, although Easter eggs were around when I was a child, they came after Sunday School or church. From a young age, we knew that Easter was about sacrifice, the crucifixion and Christ’s resurrection. Sadly today we hear of stories where only one child in a junior school class can tell the teacher anything about the real meaning of Easter.
Faith, Belief, Tradition, sacrificed to enjoy an extra day off work and mountains of chocolate eggs and bunnies.
To be successful in business and in life, we have to serve others. Customers, family, friends, strategic partners, neighbours, others in our communities. Service requires a sacrifice of time, effort, money, and more.
The photo at the top is of a soldier on Omaha beach in WWII thrusting a cross above the water. A true symbol of sacrifice and service.
The changing world is going to force sacrifices on many of us, adversity may become a more frequent visitor. We will have to make hard choices to survive.
Let’s hope we are up to it.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
cross photo by UnsplashTim Marshall
easter egg photo by Alexas photos – pixabay