Which is the Real Sacrifice?

It takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact that the world has nothing to give. What can the sacrifice of nothing mean? It cannot mean that you have less because of it. There is no sacrifice in the world's terms that does not involve the body. Think a while about what the world calls sacrifice. Power, fame, money, physical pleasure; who is the "hero" to whom all these things belong? Could they mean anything except to a body? Yet a body cannot evaluate. By seeking after such things the mind associates itself with the body, obscuring its Identity and losing sight of what it really is. (M-13.2)

To sacrifice is to give up something of value. Ego values sacrifice because you sacrificed God for it. Sacrifice is honored in ego’s world and in its religions. Read the paper, watch the news and see the stories glorifying “heroes” who have made some sacrifice, even unto death, for other egos or for “God”. Each sacrifice, no matter how small, validates the original sacrifice.

God does not value sacrifice because God does not want to be less than Everything. God wants you to put aside sacrifice and be Whole again in your awareness. This means putting aside ego and its home, the body. Ego calls this sacrifice.

As usual, ego is not consistent. It values sacrifice, yet tells you not to put it aside because this would be an intolerable sacrifice. So it keeps you absorbed in the world and confused about who you are – and confused about what real sacrifice is.

When you struggle to understand the Course or to stay aware of God it is because you think you are being asked to sacrifice something of value. When you find yourself stuck on your path, stop and think about what it is you think you are being asked to give up and think about what you are being offered in return. Which is the real sacrifice?

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Comments

Anonymous said…
I study the course on a regular basis, over the span of 3 years.I find that alot of the inner resistance I have had with many mainstream religions has alot to do with sacrifice. It would make no sense that God would ever ask for sacrifices small or large. In Christianity Jesus was sacrificed for our "sins" in the most brutal way. Which seems so against what a loving God would do. The more I accept these liberating ideas of ACIM the more absurd this seems.
11:32 PM
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