Do you believe in sacrifice? Do you think it necessary in order to obtain the things you believe will make you happy?
On the path of the ego, egos would have you believe that sacrifice is not only necessary but even required. And so suffering is necessary and required for happiness. Does this make any sense? Is this just one of life's many paradoxes?
A Course In Miracles offers us another thought system, one in which sacrifice is not only not necessay and required but antithetical to walking on the path of holiness.
The belief in the power of sacrifice is based on a belief in sin. The ultimate sin is our separating ourselves from the Oneness of God with the consequential guilt and fear of punishment. In this insane way of thinking, sacrifice is appeasement of a vengeful God who is angry with our separation and arrogance in thinking that we can be the authors of our own lives.
In this crazy rationale we have created, sacrifice makes sense, but to God it is silly because God always has, and continues to, love us unconditionally as the Universalists have taught us.
Jesus was a universalist and would say to his disciples, "Oh, you of little faith. If you only knew how much your Father in heaven loves you..."
And so as Unitarian Universalists, if we really understand our faith at its deeper levels, we could not believe in sacrifice as a vehicle for the happiness of salvation. The idea that sacrifice is necessary is contradictory to our faith.
We look on our brothers and sisters with love and assure them that no sacrifice is necessary. They always have been loved and always will be loved no matter what.
Check out these two paragraphs from the text of A Course In Miracles:
T-21.III.9. Those who believe in sin must think the Holy Spirit asks for sacrifice, for this is how they think their purpose is accomplished. Brother, the Holy Spirit knows that sacrifice brings nothing. He makes no bargains. And if you seek to limit Him, you will hate Him because you are afraid. The gift that He has given you is more than anything that stands this side of Heaven. The instant for its recognition is at hand. Join your awareness to what has been already joined. The faith you give your brother can accomplish this. For He Who loves the world is seeing it for you, without one spot of sin upon it, and in the innocence that makes the sight of it as beautiful as Heaven.
T-21.III.10. Your faith in sacrifice has given it great power in your sight; except you do not realize you cannot see because of it. For sacrifice must be exacted of a body, and by another body. The mind could neither ask it nor receive it of itself. And no more could the body. The intention is in the mind, which tries to use the body to carry out the means for sin in which the mind believes. Thus is the joining of mind and body an inescapable belief of those who value sin. And so is sacrifice invariably a means for limitation, and thus for hate.
A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. p.453
Is that a picture of Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac at God's request? What kind of a god is this?
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