Sacrifice
Take note of what activities extend you out into the world.
What is a burnt offering?
Imagine you’re a herder in a society of herders. In the eyes of all the people, you ascend the temple steps with the choicest animal in your flock, and you give it up. What would that feel like?
On a base level, there’s the financial loss. The best part of your livelihood is taken by your god. That stings. But this isn’t just money, taxation. It’s a being you knew. One who lived with you. One you loved. And all your neighbors are with you, making the same sacrifice.
Such a religion may seem distasteful to us now. But only the killing is so obviously wrong. Admit it: There is still an awe and reverence available from contemplating this practice today. What is that about? What is relatable about this?
Is it the piety? The devotion? The faith? No. Our society is rife with those things. But what do they cost today? People who don’t make our living as herders have the purchasing power to eat that priestly lunch of smoked meat with a few minutes’ wages. Why are we still moved?
What costs us dearly to give up is our time. Time is the most fungible commodity imaginable. Every instant of awareness exchanges time for something. The range of time’s value is invaluable. We can waste it like piss or change the course of history with the same amount of it.
How did you spend your time yesterday? What was it worth?
Every activity is a choice about spending time. We can spend it on ourselves, or we can offer it to the world. It is, basically, a binary choice: At this time, are you contracting inward or expanding outward? Which of those directions most needs an offering of your time?
It’s not always obvious — or even knowable — in which directions our investments of time are flowing. What matters is the offering. The mindset of offering. The value of offering. The norm of offering. If we ritually practice offering up our time, we establish a connection.
Beyond this, I can only preach. But I beg you to notice the feelings that arise after you offer up your time, compared to those that arise when you spend it on yourself. That’s the cue from our nature.
We are creatures of service.
