SACRIFICIAL MERCY

 

‘Greater love hath no man, than to lay down his life for his friend,’ says Jesus in the Bible. He is the greatest example of mercy and forgiveness. He, on His own, sacrificed His life for us that we might be saved. Sacrifice is an essential aspect of our human lives. In our day to day lives we see how much our parents struggle and give of themselves so as to provide us with all the necessary things.

Sacrifice, which we may have seen, being practised by others or must have practised it ourselves, simply comes to mean, giving up of something which is important to us for a greater cause which is more significant than the former thing. Sacrificing for the betterment of the other is often difficult than not. Where there is love, there is sacrifice and where there is sacrifice, there is mercy.

Edward F. Croker says, “Sacrificing your happiness for the happiness of the one you love, is by far, the truest type of love.”Being the youngest in the family I was very fond of my mother and vice versa. I used to travel by a public jeep to school every day; this costed more than the B.E.S.T bus fares (Mumbai city bus services) . Once as my mother’s birthday was around the corner, I thought of taking the bus as a means of travel to go to school. I thought of buying a surprise gift for my mother on her birthday with the money that I would save.

This thought which was processing in my mind didn’t take much time to cross my lips and reach the ears of my mother. I used to share everything with my mother and hence the surprise element of it was lost. Moreover she discouraged me from doing so, saying that I was a greater and a better gift to her. This brings me to the awareness that a mere thought of sacrificing something is also worth the act itself, because it involves thoughtfulness and concern for the other person.