Even a slight exhibit of it sends through the sensitive
observer a thrill of reverent abasement. Other acts we may admire;
others we may envy; this we adore.
Perhaps we are now prepared to sum up our descriptive account and
throw what we have observed into a sort of definition. I mean by self-
sacrifice any diminution of my own possessions, pleasures, or powers,
in order to increase those of others. Naturally what we first think of
is the parting with possessions. That is what the word charity most
readily suggests, the giving up of some physical object owned by us
which, even at the moment of giving, we ourselves desire. But the gift
may be other than a physical object. When I would gladly sit, I may
stand in the car for the sake of giving another ease. But the greatest
conceivable self-sacrifice is when I give myself: when, that is, I in
some way allow my own powers to be narrowed in order that those of
some one else may be enlarged. Parents are familiar with such
exquisite charity, parents who put themselves to daily hardship
because they want education for their boys. But they have no monopoly
in this kind. I who stand in the guardianship of youth have frequent
occasion to miss a favorite pupil, boy or girl, who throws up a
college training and goes home--often, in my judgment, mistakenly--to
support, or merely to cheer, the family there.
Pages:
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133