Thoughts on sacrifice and religion

• January 21, 2009
• James Skemp
• philosophy

I'm afraid I can't be as eloquent as everyone else; I'm a little mentally drained on nights.

That said, Obama called for all American's to be ready to make sacrifices. There is little doubt that greed (part of the great motivator) is what brought this country to the knee it now rests on.

Maybe I'm wrong, but with that in mind, I'm not sure we should be focusing on any possible worlds outside of this one. It's been quite a while, but I seem to recall that the focus of scripture is not on the next world, but the one that we live in.

We ought to do 'good' now, in his world.

Of course, it's rather simple to do so, as it can be contained in just a few words. Love, for example. Or, Compassion.

Unfortunately, the task that Obama has asked of us is more than compassion. I can show compassion but still keep what I have. To sacrifice, however, is to give up. To some extent, to act agressively against our striving/will.

You're right that when we focus on this world we focus on the 'now.' Heck, in a couple of months that which drove so many people yesterday will be a distant memory.

And of course it's easy to talk of sacrifice. But, again, this existence is the only one that we know.

If a man was lying on the street bleeding to his death, what would Christ do? Would he talk to him of God and the eternal? Or would he instead help him to live?

Yes, this life is transitory, but does that make it any less real?