Chapter 19

The Law of Sacrifice

THERE is a golden thread which runs through all the history of mankind and through all our lives. This golden thread, if followed to the end, leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. This golden thread is the law of sacrifice. It is only through sacrifice that the lower can be raised to the higher. It is only through sacrifice that fallen creation and mankind can be restored to the harmony and perfection foretold so beautifully by Isaiah: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11: 6, 7, 8, 9.)

That which is down cannot raise itself up of itself. It needs help, and this can come only through sacrifice. The lower animals will sacrifice themselves without hesitation in order to save their young from destruction. Human parents give up their all very often for the sake of their children. Those who preach, teach, and write upon spiritual subjects so as really to help others, must develop such a degree of sensitiveness, in order to catch the vibrations of the Spirit, as to make them suffer in a way of which others have no conception. But if they are to help others they must suffer; it is the Law of Sacrifice.

We have to follow our beloved Lord all the way, even to Gethsemane and Calvary. Each one finds his Gethsemane: each one has to give himself a willing sacrifice for others.

Ah, Yes! The “love so amazing, so divine” that poured out itself on Calvary, and which broke our stubborn wills, winning us for Heaven, must find its echo in our hearts and lives. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15: 13.) All mankind are our brothers, and for them we must willingly give ourselves.

The Way of Life is the Way of the Cross. We must take up our cross and follow our Lord, bearing His reproach. We must take His yoke upon us and learn of Him Who is the meek and lowly in heart, if we are to find rest for our souls.

By self-sacrifice, by crucifying the self, by pouring out our love upon all men, by loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, by surrendering to the Will of God, by non-resistance of evil, and by being led entirely by the Spirit, we find our feet firmly planted in the Way of Peace. Then sometimes God in His mercy draws the veil aside so that we enter into that wondrous harmony wherein we seem to rest and recline upon billows or clouds of Eternal Love.

THE END