Did some listening today. And some thinking. About old things, things that have driven our society forward for thousands of years, things that laid the foundation of this civilization.
One of these old stories has to do with the father of Judaism, Abraham, and what happened between him and his son (by Sarah), Isaac.
After a lengthy tale of hardship and toil, Abraham was told to sacrifice his son to God, and he willingly prepared to do so, to the point where God stepped in and told him "meh...nevermind".
Or so I've always perceived. No explanation, no sermon has ever really satisfactorily satisfied me as to why this is crucial knowledge that would make sense within the canon of the Old Testament. I've never liked that story, never could get my head around it. For like 35 years. It's bothered me.
Well, I was "today years' old" when I finally figured out the lesson that I believe is behind the story. It is indeed tied to the idea of "sacrifice" but I think "sacrifice", in this case, was meant in a much broader sense.
Abraham was told to "sacrifice" his son to God, which seems a bit severe, seeing as how Abraham and Sarah were 100 years old when he was born and the mere existence of Isaac was a frickin' miracle to begin with.
But in what sense was the concept of "sacrifice" used here?
I think the lesson here is to understand that "sacrificing" one's own progeny is to forthrightly send them out into the world, thus exposing them to the cruelties that are manifest there, after teaching them to act in a proper manner, to strive to become as righteous as one is capable of, and to expect them to live up to those lessons while the parents themselves live up to the example that is inherent in those lessons.
If one does so forthrightly, then the lesson taught to Abraham, and to us by extension, is that God will care for our children in a manner that will be better than even we, the parents, are capable of and in ways that we haven't really considered.
It is necessary for every parent to do as Abraham did, to instruct our children properly, to demonstrate that behavior set, and when it is time, expose our children to the cruelty and malevolence of mankind with serenity and calmness. Because it is incumbent upon each of us to have faith as we do so; that God will care for them in ways that we haven't even thought about.
Thus is the lesson of Abraham and Isaac, as I've come to understand it. Let me know what you think.
