Why Is It So Hard to Sacrifice?
Blog — By Penny Carothers on February 16, 2010 at 12:11 pmI know that Jesus said he desires mercy more than sacrifice, but there are times when sacrifice becomes a spiritual necessity, such as
when we metaphorically cast out our own eye or cut off our own hand rather than give in to temptation; or when we go without so that we understand the gifts God gives us so richly on a daily basis; and most important for my point today: when we cast off our own privilege in order to take on – in some incredibly small measure – what it means to go without.
Lent officially begins tomorrow, and many of us will be going without. Most likely it’ll be the new sugar: twitter or Facebook (and there’s nothing wrong with this! I applaud it), or for the very brave, the world wide interweb. Personally, I’ve been using twitter or Facebook to see if anyone will join me in this:
Following in the footsteps of the Mustard Seed House, I’ll be feeding myself for $2/day for one week, and giving what I save to Haitian rebuilding efforts (personally, I’ll be donating to Partners in Health). But I want to do it with some other folks.
I haven’t got much response.
I’m excited about the effort and the outcome – doing something tangible to try, imperfectly, to feel a bit of what it feels like to live in $2/day, just like almost half the world. Except I have my cell phone, and my car, and electricity. But still.
When I was at Reed, OFCS (the Christian group on campus) held a Poverty Day, where we did this for one day and challenged the school to do it, too. I scrounged coffee from the Health Center and ate a lot of gum. One friend I’ll never forget – not a Christian – was really pumped about it. He was living on cigarettes and coffee. These days, there’s a secular movement to do the same thing – but the idea doesn’t seem to get much traction with Christians, who should be on the forefront of the movement.
Why do you think it’s so hard to sacrifice? And - will you join me?
Tags: Food, Global Poor, Lent, Penny, Sacrifice
7 Comments
I guess everybody gave up the Internets for Lent!
I really appreciated your blog about sacrifice, something I rarely do. I struggle with true sacrifice.
please email me how to get on your $2 a day program, sounds like something I need to be involved in.
Penny, I need help with understanding what this looks like in actuality. Like, in my mind I would go to the grocery store, by $14 of food for the week, and repeat. Or am I missing it? Please elaborate because I’m intrigued.
oh and, if people buy you food is that ok? Like if my boyfriend wanted to buy me dinner? Or my parents? What about the free pastries at church? I’m totally not being sarcastic, just curious.
Jeffry: i struggle with true sacrifice, too. A lot. I’m sure I’m going to be whining during this week because I can’t have a latte or dessert or whathaveyou. But I’m starting to get some momentum (well, I will after I do this) because I don’t want to miss out on the closeness with God and with people who struggle because I have the choice not to. So… here goes.
And Emily, it’s only for a week, so that makes it a lot easier! As for the free stuff question, I think that’s up to you. I don’t know what I’d do…. When I stopped buying clothes for a year I got a few “new” things at the free box at school, and I enjoyed that. : )
Here’s a few places to get recipe ideas. It’s all a lot easier if you make meals with people cuz you can buy in bulk. I do a lot of buying out of bins – oatmeal, beans, pasta, etc…
Search Amy’s blog for the Hunger Challenge; there’s some good stuff.
http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/2008/09/pasta-fagioli-hunger-challenge-recipe.html
And thanks for responding!!
If you do it I’d love to hear how it goes……
sj@burnsidewriters.com
Hi there,
I appreciated your article. It rang true in my ears that mercy and sacrifice sometimes go hand in hand. For instance, in you going without you are showing mercy by providing for another. Very good.
Brad
Putting things in perspective for me, my favorite package of cashews at Starbucks costs $2.50. And that’s just a measly snack.
Hm.