Writing that out, using my notes I made, I have made a connection between the two examples of what “sacrifice” has meant to me (religious and parental/societal) and the ‘self’ sacrifice described by the AFT.
‘I’ was doing the former (not killing goats and bulls! but rather repression and negation, “the straight and narrow” path) and the later (working hard for my family, being a good citizen etc) ultimately for ‘myself’.
For ‘my’ salvation. For ‘my’ legacy. For ‘my’ reputation. Also, many sacrifices were directly done to get something ‘I’ wanted. Mostly, “getting the girl”, or trying to keep her happy!
The connection being obvious then, ‘I’ am still being encouraged to sacrifice however there is a singular goal, which is something ‘I’ am not naturally inclined to ‘be’, or ‘I’ would already ‘be’ it; happy and harmless.
This is something I will continue to contemplate. As I had always glossed over statements like Peter’s on the AFT. With something like “you can’t get rid of me that easily!”.
Which in reflection has an unfortunate double meaning. 