The
rational man is, of course, needed in the humdrum work of life. His
assertive and sagacious spirit clears many a tangled pathway. But he
gets no reverence, the characteristic response of self-sacrifice. This
is reserved for him who says, "No prudence for me! I will he admirably
crazy. Let me fling myself away, so only there come salvation to
others."
Such, then, are the four massive objections: self-sacrifice is unreal
psychologically, aesthetically, morally, or rationally: But negative
considerations are not enough. No amount of demonstration of what a
thing is not will ever reveal what it is. Objections are merely of
value for clearing a field and marking the spots on which a structure
cannot be reared. The serious task of erecting that structure
somewhere still remains. To it I now address myself.
VI
What we need to consider first is the reality and wide range of self-
sacrifice. The moment the term is mentioned there spring up before our
minds certain typical examples of it. We see the soldier advancing
toward the battlefield, to stake his life for a country in whose
prosperity he may never share. We see the infant falling into the
water, and the full-grown man flinging in after it his own assured and
valued life in hopes of rescuing that incipient and uncertain thing, a
little child.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128