A great discussion occurred at the ballpark yesterday. In one of those slow moments, hoping to teach our children well, one young person asked one huge question…
“What does it mean to sacrifice?”
Ah, terrific question! She has heard the word often in today’s culture… “shared sacrifice”… “a sacrificial lamb”… “sacrifice bunt”… “sacrifice fly”… “hard choices and shared sacrifice”… “all must sacrifice.”
And then one seemingly discerning parent chirped in, “I don’t think many today have any comprehension of what it means to sacrifice.” Touché. Hearing the word and knowing what it means are two totally different things.
Man cannot sacrifice that which costs him nothing.
Sacrifice… what it is…
An offering of something precious. Precious.
A giving up of something for the sake of someone else.
Selfless.
What it’s not….
An offering of something worthless. Worthless.
A giving up of something for one’s own sake — i.e. for publicity, attention, or “impression management.”
Selfish.
What today’s culture often acts as if it is…
Something we expect of someone else.
At this point in our fans-in-the-stands conversation, with now multiple adults chiming in, I suppose our one young person may have been overwhelmed, but to her credit, she listened attentively for a final question, confused with culture’s overuse of a word that made little sense…
“So what’s the opposite of ‘sacrifice’?”
A short pause and then…
“Indulgence.”
“Entitlement.”
“Expectation.”
Hence, all the Intramuralist offers this day is one simple question in response:
Which is more prominent in today’s culture… sacrifice? … or indulgence, entitlement, and expectation?
I wonder what the long term impact is… indulgence without consequence, entitlement in place of individual responsibility, all arguably, while feeling entitled. I wonder how the prominence of such self-focused, guised virtues affects people and policy…
Perhaps that discerning parent was right. “I don’t think many today have any comprehension of what it means to sacrifice.” Hearing the word and knowing what it means are two totally different things.
Respectfully,
AR