Sacrifice Or Insufficient?

On this fine October episode, we're talking sacrifice. I make sacrificing. ****** sacrificing. Fitting for the start of spooky season, eh? But where'd it come from? What makes it so common in our society? And how can we discern when to properly use it now? Its no coincidence that last episode we were all hung up on the idea of unconditional love, because in my mind, what is love but a precursor for sacrifice, right? Its almost like a little warning label should come with every relationship that says in really fine print will require sacrifice. I mean, no one reads the terms and conditions anyway, but its true, isnt it? Everything and anything you truly love, or even just really want in this life will at some point require you to give up something else.

That's a concept as abstract as any we've discussed. It kind of goes back to the notion of give and take. We were playing around with a few episodes back, but there's something different about this, isn't there? Something almost sinister. It's kinda like an underlying debt that must be paid, right? Something that holds so much power. Let's explore that contrast, shall we? To kick off our exploration, let's define what exactly we mean by sacrifice. Many of us came to be familiar with the term through religious or spiritual interests. I mean, there's record of it in Islam, Judaism, early Hinduism, and there are many sacrifices in the Bible, for instance. And by that I mean an act of slaughtering an animal or person, or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or a divine, supernatural figure. And you know, come to think of it, even as a child being raised up in the christian church, that idea was something that didn't quite sit right with me. I mean, if murder was a sin. Why was it all right to murder in God's name? Why was it alright for God to murder? Long story short, as I got older, a lot of things in religion didn't quite sit right with me. But thus is the path to enlightenment.

I just wanted you to know that's the foundation I was working with. And even if you weren't necessarily a person who grew up in the church like I was, the act of sacrificing things is practically a Hollywood movie staple at this point. From Hunger Games to the exorcist, it seems you can't really escape it. Bala. Celebrities and dead animals aside, though, at its core, sacrifice typically involves giving up something valuable now for a greater purpose later. For example, you have financial sacrifices, which I assume we're all very familiar with, especially in this economy. These involve giving up money for a greater purpose, like saving for a house or supporting a charitable cause. There's personal sacrifices, and this can involve giving up personal desires or ambitions for the benefit of others, or a larger goal which has also been known to make people lose sight of who they are. But well touch on that later.

You got sacrifices in relationships which I personally feel are the most common. Not to be confused with compromise, but its in the same realm. People, especially black people, and even more so, black women, make personal sacrifices in their relationships to ensure the happiness and well being of their loved ones all the time. You get the point. Sacrifices like these can bring about positive changes in our lives and the lives of others. That's facts, you know, I'm not arguing with that. And throughout history, there have been countless examples of people who made incredible sacrifices for the greater good. From civil rights leaders to scientists, their sacrifices have left an undeniable mark on society. I'm talking Rosa Parks. I'm talking Nelson Mandela. I'm talking Mahatma Gandhi. Learning from these historical figures can inspire us to make meaningful sacrifices in our own lives, whether it's for a cause we believe in or to improve our personal well being. Even in recent years, the sacrifices made by medical professionals during that staged *** COVID-19 pandemic did save countless lives. One thing we all learned the hard way from that pandemic though, is that sacrifice can be a conscious choice or something thrust upon us, which I suppose is why so many people regard it as a noble thing, right? Be honest. When you hear sacrifice, do you think heroic? You probably do. And you wouldnt be alone in feeling that way. But does heroism necessarily apply here? I mean, after all, its been said that no one can truly achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice.

Think about parents sacrificing their sleep to care for a newborn, or soldiers sacrificing their safety to protect their country. Not that I support any black people fighting for a country that wasnt made for them, but thats besides the point. I mean, we sacrifice our sleep for our jobs, our sanity for our kids, our dreams for a paycheck. Does all that make us all heroes? No. It's like how they say everyone is special. Is anyone? In that case, if we all know that life comes with these unspoken debts we're fated to pay, then why are some of us made out to be martyrs fighting the good fight when we do and others aren't?