Sacrifice is assumed to be the giving away of that which we need for our own survival. But have we considered that survival (in the richest sense of the word) is not based on what we keep, but on what we give away?

If I live life as some barter system, I will in fact never have given anything away except the opportunity to really live.

If I make the world a better place for you, I have in turn made it a better place for me. But if I am so selfish that I take it upon myself to reverse the order of that process, I might have reversed the outcome for you, but I will have destroyed the world for me.

To give myself over in the service of others may mean that I will forfeit everything that I want, but it also means that I will receive everything that I need. And if I am not big enough to let go of the former, then I am not yet big enough to handle the latter.

It’s not about being loved by people. It’s about loving them enough to do the right thing for them even though they may hate you for it.

A gift is not something to possess. Rather, it is something to hold for a brief moment before we hand it back to a hurting world with a bit more attached to it than it had when we received it.

I am thankful that there are those among us who have sacrificed dearly on behalf of us. And I ardently pray to God that I might be less like myself and more like them.

If I am not touching a life, I am not touching life.

I must be ever so careful to remember that my pain is a precious salve that when used in the service of others can heal a thousand wounds and more. And I must likewise remember that if I do not use it as such, I have done nothing more than wound myself yet again.