“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
—John 15: 12-13

The etymology of the English word sacrifice, according to Merriam Webster, comes from the Latin word sacrificium ‘sacrifice,’ from sacr-, sacer ‘sacred’ and -ficium, from facere ‘to do, make.’ Sacrifice in this sense means ‘to make sacred’. Imagine if you will one aspect of your life. Take your relationship with a significant other, for instance. What if you ask, “How can I make this relationship sacred?” If this became the lens through which you navigated your relationship, can you imagine how differently you might make decisions? In this sense it is related to the ancient understanding of sacrifice; I offer (sacrifice) my relationship up to God, to be set apart as sacred, as holy. This way of “offering” is a stance of humility in knowing that all that we have are gifts from God rather than something we are entitled to, that we claim as “mine”. We have, instead, a perspective that realizes the holiness and sacredness in all experiences, in all of creation.

To make sacred means acknowledging and engaging the other who invites you into community, which means risking an experience of vulnerability; because there is nothing you can do to make your future safe and secure enough, but you can show up for your life and practice the art of “setting apart” as sacred every precious moment.

Prayer: Holy God, you have already made all things sacred. Open our eyes to see the sacredness in every moment and to offer, to sacrifice, all that we are, all that we have, and all that will be so that all might come to know the sacredness of your Love. Amen.

—The Rev. Tammy Wooliver

St. Luke’s, Ada