Pursue What Is Meaningful - Part 2

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally some form of artistic mark to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Peterson, Jordan B. 12 Rules for Life: an antidote to chaos. Great Britain: Penguin Random House, 2018. Rule 7: Pursue What Is Meaningful [Not what is Expedient], pp. 164-173

Opening Thought: Peterson continues his look at the pursuit of meaning by focusing on the utility of sacrifice, framing it well by postulating how sacrifice could have generated as a human ideal, (from an evolutionary standpoint). Peterson depicts this natural process giving birth to an ideal human characteristic that allows people and societies access to the transcendent. To pursue what is meaningful, i.e., what would be equivalent to Godly, one must forgo what stands in the way of that pursuit. Although I agree, generally, with Peterson's premise, I do find it lacking as it is grounded in the naturalist’s position, though Peterson does leave it open for a Theist to be present in what he presents. I will aim to summarize Peterson's naturalist framework for the development of the ideal of sacrifice (both generally and as in the biblical sense) as best I can, but if this particular conversation derived from Peterson's work interests you, I would encourage you to pick up a copy of this book.

In short, Peterson notes that animals have the necessity to acquire food and shelter for survival. Animals thus have the disposition to collect and prepare. However, this disposition or instinct is limited to their animal nature. Some animals have the disposition to store food for a coming season, but many animals do not, they gobble up their food upon sight and just feed their impulses. The human creature, like animals, has these same dispositions, however, we also seem burdened by the labor of the efforts to support such dispositions. We can long to do other things other than acquiring what we need to survive, we can long to relax on a beach somewhere or sleep the days away. Or the impulse to eat everything insight might be stronger than the impulse to store for future events. This higher awareness yokes us with conscience and choice. We now must decide to care for ourselves, and not just ourselves today but also for ourselves tomorrow and the next day. We are creatures that exist through time and unfortunately, our "needs" get clouded by "wants." So, people have come to realize in history, that we must sometimes sacrifice the wants of today for the betterment of tomorrow, this premise is the foundation for work and practicality. We work hard today; we spend spring and summer planting food so that for the harvest we have stores to last us through winter. Quickly human beings realized that sacrifice of something one loves, like relaxation, can produce great futures. This realization, as Peterson notes, would eventually encode itself into the mythos of heroic stores, and cultural fables, including what shapes our Bible.

Opening Prayer: Lord, what does it mean to sacrifice? What are we called to sacrifice, and how do we best prepare ourselves for this process? Are we called to sacrifice our impulse to SIN, and dedicate ourselves to YOU? Please walk with us in our time of reflection this week. Amen.

Scripture Brought to Mind: Genesis 4:2-5 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So, Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Reflection: The story of Cain and Abel is one that Peterson spends some time on, in more than one place in 12 Rules for Life. He does this because this story speaks in many layers to the disposition of the human heart. We, like Cain, can be prideful to the point of striking down our brothers and sisters. Like Cain, we can be so caught up in what we think is right and just, to the point where we lash out at God in the process, and since we cannot overthrow God, we overthrow our neighbor in seeking what we believe to be owed. I could keep going with parallels between humanity and Cain, but the big one for today’s consideration is this: Cain is the archetype for insufficient sacrifice. The scriptures tell us that Cain and Abel have two different livelihoods, Abel tends to flocks, while Cain oversees crops. Now it is unclear why God prefers Abel’s sacrifice over Cains. My assumption is that what was offered was likely not a “big enough” sacrifice compared to their efforts; meaning it may have been more of a sacrifice of Abel’s effort to offer the section of the firstborn of his flock than it would have been for Cain to have offered some of the crops for the field. (Not that I wish to start a debate on the nuances between crop wielding and flock herding). Regardless, once the sacrifices had been offered, and Cain was shown not to be favorable, Cain merely sulks at the result. He does not seek to offer more or seek God's wisdom as to why his Abel's was more suitable. When God reaches out, Cain does not ask the question: what must I sacrifice?

The question of what we must sacrifice in pursuit of the ultimate Goodness; God, and the betterment of humanity's future is a fundamental portion of the quest for what is meaningful. We see that it is not until God comes to Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his own son that we begin to understand the true wrestling we must have with the concept of sacrifice. Obviously, God stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, because human sacrifice is not the point, rather it is a willingness to give up what we love most if it means we can bring about a better future and closer understanding and reality with God.  Abraham was a proper reflection of the extreme of Cain. Cain took his brothers’ life in protest against the ideal of God, while Abraham was willing to sacrifice what he loved most in the pursuit of the ideal of God. That is why Abraham was the foundation to which God would build the nation which would be in covenant with God.

God sends his Son to be the ultimate sacrifice, to end both the need for this ceremonial practice, and to take upon our sins. The things we now need to work on sacrificing in our current context are the impulses that pull us away from God and God's standard of morality. Sacrifice our pursuits of pleasure and easement today, so that we can be closer with God tomorrow.

As I am writing this we are in Lent, which means it is an ideal time to look at what we can forgo today in the pursuit of a greater life and love tomorrow.

Challenge for the Week: Think of a version of yourself in the future that is in a better position in every way. Your home is more put together, your finances are stable, you have a healthy family and social life, you're content with day-to-day existence (both the highs and lows) and most importantly you feel a strong connection to God and pursue a relationship with God. Now ask yourself, what changes in your life would you have to make for that reality to come true. Journal about this and plan to make some positive changes in your daily life.

Prayer for your week: Lord, help us to see our lives as an opportunity to get closer to you. Help us to look past our own wants so that we can focus on what we need to be in communion with You. Let us hear the words of scripture as Your wisdom, bleeding out into the world through history, helping us navigate the challenges of existence. Amen.

Artistic Close:  Anyone who has ever struggled with weight will understand the struggle of sacrifice. Some people’s bodies just do not react well with food, while others can just eat whatever they like, and it doesn’t seem to cause issues. If you're in the former category it can feel like the whole world is set against you. If one wants to win the battle of the bulge it takes a lot of sacrifices, giving up your favorite foods, sacrificing socializing in unhealthy venues to avoid temptation, sacrificing time to exercise and meal plan, and also willingly walking into the space of vulnerability which is needed to overcome many of the food addiction or to break bad habits. But the work put in today will create great rewards later.