Indian legend has it that the great chieftain of the tribe was talking to his grandson about the future. The grandson was making plans for the future and he asked the grandfather what the secret was in order to make his plans come true.
The tribal chief answered him with a single word: “sacrifice.” After a few seconds of silence he continued, “sacrifice son, sacrifice, because whoever wants something, costs him something, there is no other way.” Since the boy was still silent, surprised by what the grandfather was telling him, because it was not the answer he was expecting, the grandfather continued, “yes son, it is a simple truth, it does not seem to hide great secrets, but it is an enormous truth, it is a very important truth.”
We are all full of desires and plans, filled with healthy illusions in our hearts: studies, projects, a career, an interesting and well-paid job, etc. All this is part of that something we want. Some want more, some want less, but if we really plan our life, which is important to do since that is why God gave us intelligence, there will always be something that is wanted.
But that reality cannot go alone, it must always be accompanied by another truth, which is like its twin sister: “it will cost you something”. Not everything costs the same, not everything involves the same sacrifice. Small desires cost little effort, and big desires cost big sacrifices.
Things that cost little are also worth little, because they do not really fulfill us as people. Big things that involve big sacrifices are the ones that are worth the big sacrifices because they fulfill us as a person if we really make the sacrifice they cost.
For example, forming a family implies a great sacrifice, because forming a family is not simply looking for a partner, getting married and having children. It is much more, it is the constant sacrifice of forming a small society governed by love, and that implies sacrifices, many sacrifices because as St. Paul says: love is patient, kind, helpful, does not grow weary, does not seek its own interest and does not take into account the evil received. To love requires abnegation, the abnegation of renouncing oneself and one’s own plans in order to give oneself to others.
“Whoever wants something, it costs him something” continued the cacique to his grandson “but the important thing is to want, is to have an ideal. That ideal is going to imply sacrifices, and the higher it is, the more sacrifices it will imply, but once you reach the ideal, the joy will be double.”
Therefore, it is worth having an ideal, and the higher that ideal is, the more worthwhile it is, because even though it costs, it holds out a great joy, especially if that ideal is the ideal for which we were created: God and holiness.
