Sacrifice Is a Part of Life - Essay Example

SACRIFICE IS A PART OF LIFE Sacrifice is generally defined as a matter of benefaction, one of the superior manifestations of humanity. St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self”. It goes without saying that self-sacrifice is a kind of spiritual heroism which requires greatness of spirit, the fact which makes self-sacrificing an exceptional phenomenon in human society and explains its ultimate value. Despite there might be manifold opinions on the matter, such as unconventional understanding of sacrifice as a result of struggle of primal impulses i.e. balancing between selfishness and benefaction (Desar 2013), there is still a preconceived idea about the sacrifice as of summum bonum, the highest good. “FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN” CONTEXT As we all know from the novel, the protagonist called Eddie executes a classical sacrifice: he saves a little girl’s life losing his own. Although this particular episode does not represent the core of the entire novel being nothing but a turning point of the plot, it serves as a perfect example of what we call giving up something valued for the cause. It would be rather a decision without much foresight of us to say that was the one and only sacrifice made in the novel. It seems an evident author’s intention in showing that another person to sacrifice his own life for the sake of saving somebody else’s is Eddie’s father who saves Mickey’s life after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Captain’s deed shows how worthy and lofty the cause may be as saving lives of his soldiers for the cost of own life obviously is a genuine sacrifice and thus requires no justification as relatively opposed to Eddie’s. Eddie being indirectly involved in death of young Tala eventually atones for the crime, or to be more correct, to the sin. Not surprisingly it turns out that we operate with merely religious terms. The category of lofty matters does call for it; sacrifice is a matter of mind in spiritual sense rather than psychological motivation or whatever in sense of rationality, which would require scientific terms. Redemption and sacrifice are undoubtedly among the principal concepts to be encountered throughout the novel. SOCIAL ASPECT OF SACRIFICE As it was mentioned before, sacrifice is accepted as an exceptional phenomenon in society since it originates in unusual to human nature aspiration for benefiting others to the detriment of self. A rather important remark to be made, selflessness is often claimed as an alternative name for sacrifice, thus partially explaining its deep-rooted psychological motivation. The existence of sacrifice is likely to be sustained by valid unwritten ethic rules and to a certain extent by virtues prescribed by a gargantuan number of religions throughout the world. Probably humanity and its lesser derivate virtues including sacrifice are practically the same for everyone regardless of the faith provided that dried-up rationalism is completely rejected. But let us take notice of some significant manifestations of sacrifice in modern society and its particular aspects, such as sacrificial rhetoric in context of war in United States. Despite being a fairly discrepant and sensitive issue to discuss, it definitely worth attention in order for us to unfold how exactly sacrifice is introduced to the vast masses. The credit paid to veterans of war in US is a perfect example of how highly self-sacrifice is rated by millions of people. It deserves mentioning that if we take into consideration accusations involving government’s intentional manipulating the sacrifice virtue (so-called “necessary sacrifice”) this would mean another, unorthodox perception of it by the entire nation. This proves the idea that concept of Christian sacrifice and Christian redemption do exist in a number of hypostasis, though gaining its traditional meaning only in context of a personal sacrifice, an episodical one. Eddie’s action in “Five People You Meet in Heaven” serve as a classic one while US warhero’s services are an undoubtedly worthy but additionally popularized sacrifice and these two examples seem to be slightly different as for evaluation and general perception. No need to say that there is a precise boundary between necessary and voluntary sacrifice, which differ by virtue of inner impulse, interior momentum or outer circumstances pressure. Quite an interesting thing to admit: Milbank in his “Ethics of Self-Sacrifice” suggests that a sacrifice which represents a gift without asking a counter-gift and subsequent exalted resurrection is “most paradigmatic of the good” (Milbank 1999). REASONS FOR SACRIFICE One of fundamental psychology principles runs as any conscious act including sacrifice as well requires initial inner inducement. It goes without saying that every single person may have different reasons for sacrificing something for a cause or may not have it at all, i.e. be incapable of sacrificing. This surely depends on particular individual traits involving fixed notions about moral values and some crucial (in this case) aspects having a certain impact, e.g. determination, maturity, life experience etc. Let us admit that willingness to engage in self-sacrifice may depend on other circumstances far beyond one’s free will, which is to say, circumstances to shape the afore-mentioned inner momentum. Quoting Sgt. Eversmann from 2001 Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” movie, Nobody asks to be a hero, it just sometimes turns out that way. If we analyze deeply the phenomenon of sacrificial heroism, we would soon get accustomed to the fact that most of sacrifice acts have place accidentally and to be truthful real sacrifices are not events one gets prepared for beforehand. It may sound in a paradoxical way, but in fact there can exist no reason for sacrifice at all since we accept aforesaid inference. Can it be a conscious sacrifice one prepares himself to? Probably yes, provided it takes place under certain circumstances. Let’s revert to Captain’s sacrifice in “Five People You Meet in Heaven”, who stepped on a landmine while scouting ahead thus saving life for a dozen of his soldiers. Eddie on the contrary had no time to think about lofty altruism when he had to save a little girl’s life. In fact he had nominal reason for sacrificing his life i.e. save a life, but since we put the matter straight, it was rather a momentary impulse dictated by Eddie’s willingness to do what is needed to be done at that very instant. One might say it was an act of humanity, which is present inside everyone of use, or, to put it in more general way, an act of love in the broad sense. This is where faith and rational mind cross each other’s path. We can’t deny the fact Eddie saved girl’s life for any possible reason excluding urge towards prevent a disaster. Indeed, as soon as we get acquaintance with Eddie’s personality it becomes clear that there was no way he could act differently, this appears to be a call of conscience – a reason for genuine self-sacrifice, which could be elevated to the rank of an indubitable one. From ethical point of view there can be one and only reason for executing self-sacrifice – a natural aspiration of a human who was raised in a society where self-sacrifice is both a great honor and a necessary benefaction – the issue partially stated above. SACRIFICE OF WAR It’s been a tradition to accept war heroes as men of sacrifice. Deployed to foreign lands, sent to the trenches, set to endure horrible conditions, running risk to be killed every second as the tides of war are very changeable. Those who fought shoulder to shoulder with Stars and Stripes on their arms eventually return home and are deservedly accepted as heroes, men of sacrifice. Be it necessary or unnecessary one can’t deny the fact that it was really for the great cause. Even without grandiloquent words it becomes obvious that individual acts of bravery and selflessness veterans once fought with represent whole-hearted sacrifice. SACRIFICE OF PEACETIME We can’t just omit sacrifices executed by braveheart firefighters, policemen and other millions of people managing to change our lives for better ones while suffer losses on their behalf. In fact peacetime is a field of battle where everyone is constantly struggling. Sure thing it’s not the struggle in convenient sense and not even the sacrifice firefighters are up to. Self-sacrifice itself should be also accepted as something natural, not requiring extreme circumstances. We may call it another kind of sacrifice but we won’t for the reason that it’s the same phenomenon under another mask. Modern researches display that people are ready for sacrificing for quite different reasons, but the point is that the final result of such sacrifice cannot be always satisfactory. Moreover, it may sometimes be devastatingly frustrating. I guess we should avoid enticing formula proving sacrifice to be fruitful in spite of cost paid. One of the main principles of happy living is eluding fake and unnecessary sacrifices. Once you are forced to self-sacrifice, consider yourself victim for the cause that this kind is completely baneful. You are free to sacrifice your spare time to learn a foreign language, sacrifice your habits to make your girlfriend happier, sacrifice part of your money to ensure your future. PERSONAL SACRIFICES Sacrifice is an essential part of our life since we have to be engaged in something to the detriment of something else, which appear to shape the vital dilemmas we encounter throughout our lives. We are made to choose, to reject, to prefer, to accept and cancel. In general life seems to be a giant quiz with a limited choice set where there is no right and wrong answers but lost and used opportunities. Remember The Blue Man’s words “No life is a waste"…but a sacrifice, we shall add. Giving priority to something is already a sacrifice; the matter is whether or not it is worth it. The more we get from this life-long trade or be it sacrifice stock exchange, the more successful and full-blooded life we eventually have. To avoid disillusionments and disappointments all of us should give priority to right things, e.g. sacrifices made for avoidance-motivated reasons are destructive by their nature and can only lead to frustration. Every person chooses things to sacrifice even without realizing it. Wisdom which comes with life experience can tell a tale about what is more important. It’s a rather courageous proposal, but personal sacrifice is a matter which decides how happy you are, to make a long story short it is life decider. It may eventually appear that one sacrifice can change your entire life. Works cited Desar, Leonora. The Truth About Sacrifice. Is it our first impulse to be selfless? Published on July 22, 2013 by A Guest Blogger in Brainstorm. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. Milbank, John. The ethics of self-sacrifice. Published on March, 1999 by First Things, Institute on Religion and Public Life. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. Read More