Real Spiritual Sacrifice

Comment from Bernadette Roberts, paraphrased

In speaking with Bernadette about spiritual sacrifice, she told me that some people think sacrifice is making a list of things that you don’t think are ‘spiritual,’ and then trying to give them up. But real spiritual sacrifice is when something is ripped off of you and you learn to live without it. What we give is nothing; what God takes is all.

[Dear Readers, I post the quotes for this week from the spare bedroom of some friends. Due to recent fires very near where I live, I have been evacuated from my apartment, along with all my neighbors. I have no idea if my home is still standing. I am fortunate in having friends who make me welcome, a little old car that drove me here, and much, much more. Still, there is no denying the fires are dreadful and the fact that they seem to now come every summer makes me wonder if there is another place I could live. But what place is not under the cloud of global warming? The peace and familiarity of my life has truly been ripped away from me, and I must learn to live without it – either for a short time, or possible, a very long time. If I can live it as a “real spiritual sacrifice” then it will be to the good.]