The Anatomy of Sacrifices

Why would  sacrifices have  anatomy?  Well, sacrifices have structure, though often hidden - visible to those who want to see or feel it - and there are motivations, varied degrees of intensity, purpose, and a beginning and an end. And this is how it is typically defined: "the act of giving up or losing something of value for the sake of something else to have a greater value or claim.."

That is one definition.

In Scriptures, it is both an act of worship and an expression of faith in the Divine. 

In some past cultures, sacrifices took on  a grisly macabre nature beyond comprehension today but was an acceptable practice then to please or placate the gods.

However, we do not have a monopoly on the capacity to sacrifice or on how to deem what it is.  Life, any life, apparently requires or demands sacrifices of one magnitude or another, that occurs even in the animal world where maternal sacrifices are acted on under extreme conditions.

Take one species of octopus. The "Graneledone boreopacifica, like all octopus species, is semelparous, meaning it reproduces only once in its lifetime. After laying her eggs in a carefully chosen location, often a rock crevice or other safe area, the mother devotes herself entirely to protecting and nurturing her clutch".

This octopus will spend as much as 4.5 years protecting the eggs from predators or other disturbances until they hatch. The unusually long incubation period is due to the cold temperatures at the bottom of the deep ocean, hence the extraordinarily long metabolic processes.  During that entire time the mother octopus will not feed, relying only on its fat reserves to stay alive. It is literally wasting away and dies as the eggs hatch.  Often, what remains of her body will feed the young hatchlings. No other definition of the ultimate sacrifice can match that.  But for a species that only reproduces once in its lifetime, we can say that such is the epitome of the ultimate sacrifice for the survival of the species. And by the way, octopuses are considered one of the most intelligent invertebrates on land or sea. The brain of the octopus is not centrally concentrated in its brain but outwardly connected to all eight tentacles so that each appendage can think independently on its own or in concert with the entire nervous system. 

We've read about the male praying mantis sacrificing itself as food to the female after mating.  The explanation is that the expectant mother is assured of an initial and immediately good nutrition by dining on the father of the soon  to be offspring.  I don't know how scientists figured that out but then what other reasons are there?

There are many other examples though not quite as dramatic as the two above. But one thing is certain - sacrifices are not only common but that life seems well provided with many ways that they can occur.  For life forms way below our intellectual capacities  to exhibit those traits may point to the fact that the capacity to sacrifice is all along a component required for the survival of the fittest.

This takes us to the level of sacrifices we, as a species, are capable of achieving. 

Pfc James Anderson  was born on Jan. 22, 1947.  At age 19 he enlisted in the Marine Corp in 1966.  The following year at just 20 years old his unit was sent to Vietnam. On Feb. 28, 1967, his unit was ambushed while on patrol. An enemy grenade was thrown at his platoon. Without hesitation he dove towards the grenade, covered it with his body and was killed when it exploded. His sacrifice saved several marines from serious injury or death.

"On August 21, 1968, he became the first African American U.S. Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor while serving in Vietnam."

In an eerily strange and almost retroactive coincidence, we go back to the previous  generation when on February 1, 1944 another heroic incident happened in another war - WWII. - with another Marine of the same last name.

Richard Beatty Anderson was born on Jan. 26, 1921. As you can see from the photo below, he was a white man. Wait till you read his story.

"Summary of Action for which He was Awarded the Medal of Honor

On 1 February 1944, during the assault on Roi Island in the Marshall Islands, Private First Class Richard Beatty Anderson was sheltering in a shell crater with three fellow Marines under intense enemy fire. As he prepared to throw a grenade at a nearby Japanese position, the grenade slipped from his grasp and rolled back into the crater where the men were crowded together."

Pfc Anderson "hurled himself onto the grenade, absorbing the full force of the explosion with his body. His deliberate and selfless act saved the lives of the Marines beside him at the cost of his own."

Did you make note of the date?  Both died in February, 23 years apart - one generation between them.  Both were Marines, one black, one white. Both recipients of the Medal of Honor.

Reincarnation buffs have this to say. Pfc Richard Anderson died in 1944, three years later he was reborn as James Anderson in 1947, to a black family.  The two heroic incidents seemed like a re-play, except that in Vietnam the grenade was thrown by the enemy.  It was as if Richard Anderson wanted to redo his heroism when it was not his fault and by sheer selfless sacrifice, he saved his fellow Marines (again).

Reincarnation or just plain simple coincidence is up to the reader to determine.

Just last week I got into a conversation with the nurse who took my vital signs (pulse, temperature, blood pressure, weight) before the doctor could see me in the other room. Since there was a patient before me I had to wait.  The nurse stayed with me until the other room became available. She proceeded to tell me her story when she realized my wife has Parkinson's to share her experience in care giving to a family member.

She is the eldest child with a younger handicapped brother - unable to speak and  suffering from epilepsy. Then a few years ago her mom was diagnosed with cancer. The nurse became caregiver to both.  During all that time she took only night shift jobs so can take care of them during the day. Her mom passed away.  She still had to care for her brother.  The brother, at 44, died two years ago. The nurse never had  time to enter into any personal relationship of her on so she never married. 

When she finished her story, I did not have the courage to tell her my own caregiving story vis-a-vis  my wife's Parkinson's.  Compared to what she went through, my so-called sacrifice is petty and a minuscule facsimile of her own sacrifices.

I hope I have given enough credence to what  anatomy of sacrifices mean.