That damage to the abstract self
which chiefly impresses the outsider is something of which the
sacrificer is hardly aware. How exquisitely astonished are the men in
the parable when called to receive reward for their generous gifts!
"Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave
thee drink? When saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee?"
They thought they had only been following their own desires.
Perhaps the most admirable case of self-sacrifice is that in which no
single person appears who is profited by our loss. The scholar, the
artist, the scientific man dedicate themselves to the interests of
undifferentiated humanity. They serve their undecipherable race, not
knowing who will obtain gains through their toils. In their sublime
benefactions they study the wants of no individual person, not even of
themselves. Yet, turn to a man of this type and try to call his
attention to the privations he endures, and what will be his answer?
"I have no coat? I have no dinner? I have little money? People do not
honor me as they honor others? Yes, I believe I lack these trifles.
But think what I possess! This great subject; or rather, it possesses
me. And it shall have of me whatever it requires."
In such service of the absolute is found the highest expression of
self-sacrifice, of social service, of self-realization.
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