【Lesson 7】 A Sacrifice without Compensation

1. Understand that sacrifice is the basis to achieve peace

Lesson
2. Understand the value of sacrifice through various examples and have the heart to
Objectives
practice sacrifice

1. My happiness is based on other’s sacrifice

Q. How is it possible for me to have a happy life?
→ All things in nature and human society maintain happiness based on sacrifice.

2. Value of a Sacrifice and Examples

Q. What kind of heart did the people who practiced sacrifice have, and what can we
earn from a sacrifice?
Key Contents → We can earn peace and life by practicing love without asking for compensation
and with someone’s courageous sacrifice.

3. Obstacles that hinder sacrifice and the practice of sacrifice

Q. What are the obstacles that hinder sacrifice, and how can we practice sacrifice?
→ Selfishness makes people pursue their own interest and profit which hinders the
practice of sacrifice. The practice of sacrifice begins with small things in our
daily lives.
【Engage】

| Opening Story

This is what happened during the Korean War. On a cold winter day, an American soldier was retreating to
a deep valley and he heard a strange sound. As he listened to the sound closely, it was the cry of a baby
coming out from a snow pit. While the American soldier cleared away the snow to take out the baby, he
became shocked. A naked woman was lying there dead, embracing the baby. In order to save the baby, the
woman took off all her clothes to wrap up the baby, and she froze to death with the baby in her embrace. The
American soldier, who was deeply moved by this, dug up the frozen ground and buried the mother. He then
took the baby with him and raised the baby as his son.

On a snowy winter day, an old American man and a young Korean man stood before a grave. The baby
grew up as a young man and visited his mother’s grave, together with his American father. Listening to the
story of his mother who passed away to save him many years ago, the young man cried and cried. The
young man cleared away the snow on the grave with his two hands, and he took off all of his clothes and
covered his mother’s grave with his clothes. He said to his mother, who passed away, crying,

“Mother, how cold were you on that day!”

| Main Points of the Lesson

• Sacrifice
To give up or to offer one’s own life, possession, honor, or such to someone or for something.
【Exploration 1】

# My happiness is based on other’s sacrifice

Love is not a feeling of happiness. Love is a willingness to sacrifice.

- Michael Novak / American Philosopher (1933-2017)

Is my happiness achieved on my own?

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, published in 1964, is a children’s picture book which illustrates the
sacrifice of a tree for a little boy. From the boy’s childhood to becoming old, he received many things from
the tree such as cool shade, apples, and even a stump for the boy to sit on. The tree sacrifices everything it
has to make the boy happy. Likewise, nature provides every resource that is needed in a human’s life. The
Giving Tree is not just a story about a little boy, but it asks a fundamental question about the relationship
between nature and humans.

<The Giving Tree>

1. A tree that protects its child tree

According to some dendrologists, it is known that trees recognize and help each other like parents do to
their children. A parent tree takes care of a child tree, and a healthy tree takes care of an old and sick tree.
For example, trees send distress signals to other trees when there are insect attacks since they are connected
to each other through underground fungal networks. A big difference is shown between a tree protected by
its parent tree and a tree not protected by its parent tree. A tree grown in a forest is protected by its parent
tree. When a tree is attacked by insects, its bark can be peeled off which makes the tree dry and withered.
When that happens, a parent tree connects its roots to the child tree and provides nutrients. Therefore, a tree
with its bark peeled off does not die so easily in the forest. In addition, parent trees make their children trees
grow slowly. If a tree grows quickly, then its power to endure from rough weather and insect attacks
becomes weaker. Parent trees make large shade in the forest to allow a little sunlight for the little trees to
grow. As a result, little trees grow slowly but their cells become densely packed, which make them firm and
solid. On the other hand, a tree that grows alone on the street or in the park without the protection of its
parent tree grows quickly. However, it becomes a weak tree sensitive to the temperature change and insect
attacks since it is not firm and solid due to its fast growth.

<Slowly Grown Tree> ⓒpixabay <Fast Grown Tree> ⓒpixabay

2. Animals’ paternal and maternal love

The three-spine stickleback fish are known for their paternal love. The male sticklebacks build a nest
using materials such as water plants and secure them with a glue produced in their kidneys. Then the males
lead the female sticklebacks into their nests to lay eggs. When the females lay their eggs in the males’ nest,
the male sticklebacks fertilize all the eggs. The females would die in a few hours exhausted from laying eggs
and the males would protect the eggs from the predators day and night until the eggs are hatched. By the
time the eggs are hatched, the male sticklebacks die near the spawning ground since they used all their
strength.

The breeding cycle for the emperor penguins begins when the sea ice reforms and becomes thick. The
penguins huddle together to escape wind chills which reach -76°F and conserve warmth by taking turns
moving to the group’s interior. When the female emperors lay the eggs, they leave them to the male
emperors. The males keep the eggs warm by balancing them on their feet and covering them with feathered
skin known as a brood pouch. If the egg is exposed to the bitter chill for only a minute, the egg immediately
freezes. Therefore, the males try desperately hard not to let the eggs fall from their feet. After the females lay
the eggs, they leave them to the males and travel many miles to reach the ocean to find food.

Until the females come back, the males stay behind to incubate the eggs. For more than four months, the
males need to look after the eggs in the winter storms until they are hatched. During this period, they cannot
eat anything except a little snow. If the eggs are hatched before the female emperors return, the chicks are
fed with a secretion of protein and fat produced by the male emperors from their esophagus which is called
“penguin milk.” The males are not able to eat or sleep during this period and lose nearly half their body mass.
After about four months, the females return with a belly full of food that they regurgitate for the newly
hatched chicks. There are, of course, many female emperors who fail to return to the breeding site because
they are eaten by predators like the seal leopard. When the females return, the males go out to the sea in
search of food, and the females raise the chicks.

In addition to this, there are many animals that take care of their babies and protect them from various
threats. It is difficult for most of the animals’ babies to maintain their life themselves without the help of
their parents. When the babies themselves become a parent, they also instinctively sacrifice for their babies.

<Emperor Penguins>
ⓒpixabay

| Discussion

1. Let’s find other cases in nature in which animals or plants sacrifice for their young ones.

2. Let’s bring back memories of our parents who sacrificed for us and discuss it with each other.
【 Exploration 2】

# Value of a Sacrifice and Examples

Love is more than a noun-it is a verb; it is more than a feeling-it is caring, sharing,
helping, sacrificing.
- William Arthur Ward / American Author (1921-1994)

What is the meaning and value of a true sacrifice?

We should not demand a unilateral sacrifice just because my life is happy due to other people’s sacrifice.
A sacrifice should be done voluntarily. A sacrifice that is not voluntary is like another form of violence. In
addition, there should be a clear purpose and value in a sacrifice. Through the examples of those who
practiced sacrifice, let us find out what is the meaning and value of a true sacrifice.

1. Discovery of a work worth sacrificing for

1) For the world where a life is respected

The movie Schindler’s List is a true story about a German industrialist, Oskar Schindler. During World
War II, he tried to accumulate a fortune by selling enamelware and ammunitions to the military. He
employed Polish Jews to operate his ammunitions factory and gathered wealth. One day, Oskar Schindler
witnessed a miserable massacre. Even though the Jews did not do anything wrong, they were sent to the
concentration camp just because they were Jews. They were shot just because their one arm was missing or
they learned too much at school or they were unable to clean the bathtub. As he felt guilty about seeing such
things, Oskar Schindler began to create a Schindler’s list to save the Jews. He tried to save Jews that were
planned to be sent to the death camp at Auschwitz with money. Oskar Schindler used all of his fortune to
bribe authorities so that his workers could stay at the factory, and he saved about 1,100 Jews. Until the war
ended, he took care of the Jews, and they all earned freedom at the end.

After World War II, Oskar Schindler was in agony because of the fact that he was not able to save one
more person. What was the reason that Oskar Schindler, who pursued only money and success, sacrificed
everything he had to save the Jews? It was because he realized the value in the phrase, “Whoever saves one
life, saves the world entire.” To one person, one’s own life is like the world entire. So, when a life is lost,
then the world is no longer meaningful. In the last scene of the movie, Oskar Schindler cried, “If I had sold
this car, I would have saved ten more people! And if I had sold this gold pin, I would have saved two more!”
We can think about the value of the dignity of life again through this.

Movie Poster of Schindler’s List (1993)

2) For the world where there is no racial discrimination

Desmond Tutu, who was born in 1931 in South Africa, worked to fight against racial discrimination all
his life. Tutu wanted to become an educator, but he could not receive the same education as the white people
due to a racial segregation policy called “apartheid.” As a result, he decided to become an archbishop instead.
In the early 20th century, the racial segregation policy forced the different racial groups to live and develop
separately. For example, non-white people could not attend the same school or go to the same workplace as
the white people. Even the bus that they could take and the beach that they could go to were segregated.

One day, Tutu and his daughter were walking on the beach, and they saw an empty swing in the only-
white region.
Tutu’s daughter said, “Dad! I want to ride that swing.” Tutu answered in a weak voice, “We cannot go to
that region.” The daughter asked, “Dad, there is no one who is playing in that playground. Why can’t I go
there?” How would Tutu feel when he heard that? And how could he answer his daughter’s question? How
could he say “since you are black, you cannot go there” to his daughter?

After Tutu became an Anglican archbishop, he still fought actively against the racial segregation policy.
In recognition of his contributions to this cause, he received a Nobel Prize in 1984. However, after Tutu
received the Nobel Prize, he still did not have the right to vote. The right to vote was first given to the black
people in South Africa in 1994. On 27 April 1994, the first voting day for the black people, Tutu expressed
this day like this in his book called No Future Without Forgiveness:
 “The day for which we had waited all these many long years, the day for which the struggle against
Apartheid had been waged, for which so many of our people had been tear gassed, bitten by police dogs,
struck with squirt and batons, for which many more had been detained, tortured, and banned, for which
others had been imprisoned, sentenced to death, for which others had gone into exile—the day had finally
dawned when we would vote, when we could vote for the first time in a democratic election in the land of
our birth.”

As Nelson Mandela was elected as the first black president in South Africa on 27 May 1994, the racial
segregation in South Africa came to an end.

2. A sacrifice is an expression of devoted love that does not ask for compensation

1) A sacrificial love that overcame disabilities

There was a girl named Anne living in the poor house in Tewksbury. At the age of five, Anne suffered
from an eye disease which damaged her sight. When Anne was eight years old, Anne’s mother died and
Anne’s father, who was an alcoholic, abandoned his children. When Anne and her brother were sent to the
poor house, Anne’s brother died due to the poor conditions of the house and Anne fell into despair. After
Anne became blind, she often tried to commit suicide. People thought that Anne could not recover and she
was sent to a room in the basement for mental patients.

When everyone gave up on Anne’s treatment, Laura, who was a nurse, volunteered to take care of Anne.
Rather than giving her a treatment, Laura became a friend to Anne. Laura went to Anne with biscuits to read
books to her and prayed for her. Laura gave much love to Anne, but Anne did not say anything or eat any
food that was brought to her. One day, Laura found out that one of the chocolates was gone from the plate
that she put in front of Anne. Having received courage from this, Laura kept reading books to her and prayed
for her. Anne slowly responded to this and later she talked like a normal person. Anne entered the Perkins
Institution, a school for the blind, and she found happiness in her life through her faith as she went to church.
Later, Anne went through hardship when Laura died, but she graduated the school as an outstanding student.
In addition, she succeeded in an eyesight recovery operation with the help of a newspaper company.

One day after the surgery, Anne saw in the newspaper that a child who cannot see, hear, or talk was in
need to be taken care of. Anne decided to return the love that she received to that child. People said that no
one can teach that child who cannot see, hear, or talk but Anne said, “I believe in God’s love.”

With love, this child had grown into the most miraculous heroine in the 20th century. This child was
“Helen Keller” and her teacher was “Anne Sullivan.” Like Laura who helped Anne become like a normal
person by sympathizing with her pain, Anne Sullivan spent forty-eight years of her life with Helen Keller.
Later, Helen Keller expressed gratitude towards Anne Sullivan in her essay called “Three Days to See.” In
her essay, she said that if she could see for three days, she would visit her teacher, Anne Sullivan, and look at
her on the first day.

2) Love for the people, “Love people like myself”

One of the greatest figures in Korea’s history is King Sejong. His life can be expressed with the phrase
“love for the people.” King Sejong’s achievements are countless in the fields such as national defense,
science, music, culture, and more. However, his most important achievement is the invention of “Hangul,”
the Korean alphabet. He explained the reason why he created Hangul.

"Being of foreign origin, Chinese characters are incapable of capturing uniquely Korean meanings.
Therefore, many common people have no way to express their thoughts and feelings. Out of my sympathy
for their difficulties, I have created a set of twenty-eight letters. The letters are very easy to learn, and it is
my fervent hope that they improve the quality of life of all people."

Regardless of the King’s thoughtful intention, there was great opposition among the people of the
government. They thought the people would raise a rebellion if they learned and knew the characters.
Furthermore, they said that there would be no one working the agriculture and the foundation of the country
would collapse. Most of the people in the government thought that learning how to write and read was a
privilege only for the upper class.

Therefore, King Sejong started to create Hangul on his own. It is known that King Sejong almost lost his
eyesight because he created Hangul even though he had a heavy workload. Hangul was created in December
of 1443, and it was officially proclaimed on 9 October 1446. Hangul is the only alphabet in the world to
have clearly written historical records of the date on which it was first created.

King Sejong, who loved the people, came out of the palace and built a cottage like the people to lived
there for two years during his reign. He also made the people vote in order to know their will. He even let
the lower class go on maternity leave and implemented a policy to hire the disabled in various fields because
he could not tolerate the discrimination of the disabled. In addition, when the country was in a difficult
situation due to famine, he shared the land of the royal family to the people. Despite the opposition of many,
King Sejong sacrificed and devoted his whole life for his people. Here are some words that King Sejong left:

“The reign of peace that I dream of is the world where people can do what they want to do.”
“The people are the roots of a nation, and the roots should be strong so as to create a peaceful nation.”

“It is in order to avoid confusion in undertakings by the people that they have a king rule over them. How,
then, could a king hope to live up to the dignity expected of him as a ruler when he refuses to hear out his
people when they bring to his attention injustices done to him?”

<King Sejong’s Statue>

ⓒpixabay

| Discussion

1. Let’s find the work that is worth the sacrifice around us and discuss it with each other.

2. Other than the examples already mentioned here, find other examples of sacrifice or devotion and discuss
it with each other.
【 Exploration 3 】

# Practice of Sacrifice

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.
- Napoleon Hill / American Author (1883-1970)

What are the obstacles that hinder the practice of sacrifice?

Even though we realized the true value of a sacrifice, it is difficult to practice that sacrifice if we do not
abandon our selfish interest. When we fill our hearts with only greed, then we can inflict harm on others
which leads to a conflict. Selfishness makes us pursue our own interest or profit, threatens the existence of a
community, and diminishes our spirit of sacrifice. If we realized the true value of a sacrifice, then we have to
overcome our selfish interest and make efforts to practice sacrifice.

1. Selfishness makes one pursue one’s own interest

One of the examples which made people pursue their own interest or profit out of their selfishness is the
opioid crisis. Opioids are a class of drugs found in the opium poppy plant, which result in the relief of pain.
In the late 1990’s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not get
addicted to prescription opioids. Due to this, healthcare providers began to prescribe opioids at greater rates,
even to the patients that did not need this prescription. The patients who took opioids became so addicted to
them that they could not carry on with their daily lives. In addition, many people died due to opioid
overdose. Looking at this grave situation, the state of Ohio sued the pharmaceutical companies. Therefore,
the selling of opioids was restricted and the use of overdose-reversing drugs was promoted. Ironically, some
of the pharmaceutical companies that made these overdose-reversing drugs were the companies that made
these addictive pain relievers. The companies made money by making people become addictive to the drugs
as well as treating those addicts. Like this, selfishness makes people ignore human rights and the dignity of
life and inflicts harm on many people by going blind due to the pursuit of their own interest.

On the other hand, Confucianism teaches these words as the virtue of a leader: “You must first think
about public will and then private will. You must throw away your personal greed and work for the public
interest.”
 Hippocrates (BC 460-377) is an ancient Greek physician regarded as the father of medicine. Hippocratic
oath is an ethical code attributed to Hippocrates pledged by physicians. The Declaration of Geneva, which is
a revised, modern draft of the Hippocratic oath, is commonly used today. The following is an excerpt from
the Declaration of Geneva.

As a member of the medical profession:

I solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the service of humanity;
I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender,
nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to
intervene between my duty and my patient;
I will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patient;
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life;
I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat;
I make these promises solemnly, freely, and upon my honour.

Excerpt from The Declaration of Geneva

In this way, physicians pledge that they will not use their medical knowledge for their own interest but for
the service of humanity. Therefore, there have been many great physicians who dedicated their lives to the
service of humanity in our history.

2. The importance of practicing peace in daily life

There is a great sacrifice in which you give your life for a friend, but you can practice small sacrifices
even in your daily life. Jean-Paul Sartre, a French novelist, said, “Commitment is an act, not a word.” Even
to do small things, it is important to make effort, not just to say it in words.

If we look at the footsteps of great people, the path they have followed was the continuation of suffering
and sacrifice. However, it is not that they sacrificed because they are great; but since they sacrificed for
others, they are regarded as great. Therefore, sacrifice is not something that people only with high position
or who possess a lot of things can do. Sacrifice begins with the heart of not being ignorant to the suffering or
pain of others.

There are many ways to practice sacrifice with even small things. We can donate a little money to a
volunteer organization or we can clean up the streets with our friends. We can participate in relief activities
by visiting regions affected by natural disasters or we can teach other students that lost their opportunity to
receive education. If we practice sacrifice starting in our daily lives and love our neighbor, then there will be
no more conflicts in family, school, and society. Rather, there will be peace everywhere.

We cannot achieve world peace with selfishness. If we try to satisfy our selfish desires, then there will be
only conflict. A sacrifice that does not ask for a compensation is needed to achieve world peace. The
compensation for a small sacrifice that we make in our daily lives is not money or honor. The compensation
for the small sacrifices that we make is a world of peace.

| Discussion

1. Let’s find ways to practice small sacrifices in our daily lives.

2. Let’s discuss our heart before and after we practice sacrifice.

| Application

1. Read the excerpt below and share something small that you have with the person next to you.

On Sunday, I went to Mass. The priest gave a sermon on “sharing” and told us to share whatever we have
with the person next to us. I could not give my car key and I thought about the price of the things that I wore
such as my scarf, earrings, necklace, and more. I was searching for “excuses” why I could not give those
things to the person next to me. And I found a mint candy in the back pocket of my pants. A few days ago, I
got this mint candy from a restaurant, but since I do not like mint, I gave this to the person who was sitting
next to me. The priest asked us how happy it is to share even a little thing with the person next to us.
Everyone around me was shining with a bright smile, but I could not smile.

From Once In My Life by Jang Younghee

【Conclusion】

The more developed animals need more care from their parents in their childhood. For humans, the care
and sacrifice from the parents are essential. Without the sacrifice from the parents who give birth, raise, and
feed their children, there is no one who lives happily on his or her own. Furthermore, humans receive every
resource from nature. Like the story in the book titled The Giving Tree, nature generously provides resources
and a place to live for humans.

A sacrifice is not something that one can demand by force. Demanding sacrifice is another type of
violence. A sacrifice must be done voluntarily, and one can practice sacrifice voluntarily when they realize
the meaning and value of sacrifice. Therefore, the meaning, value, and necessity of sacrifice should be
taught to students at school and train them as the citizens of peace who practice sacrifice voluntarily.

A sacrifice is essential for humanity to live in peace. World peace cannot be achieved with selfishness. If
people try to satisfy only their desires, then peace will be broken and there will be only conflicts and
disputes. Selfishness makes people pursue their own interest or profit, harm public interest, and even cause
harm to others. A method to live together by practicing sacrifice and to take care of each other should be
sought after. This should also be done in family, school, country, and international society. Small things can
be done without a sacrifice. However, a sacrifice without asking for a compensation allows people to do
greater things. If all nations and people around the world sacrifice and yielded their profit little by little, then
we can create the greatest legacy, world peace. When we sacrifice for world peace, it is difficult to expect
the compensation to be given to us right now. However, our sacrifice will pass down a world of peace as a
great legacy to our future generations.
| Reference

1.https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1720375&cid=47336&categoryId=47336 Hippocrates and the Declaration of

Geneva
2.http://www.healthvermont.gov/response/alcohol-drugs/governors-opioid-coordination-council Opioid
3.https://www.biography.com/activist/anne-sullivan Anne Sullivan
4.http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/culture/mbcspecial/vod_pack/index.html Emperor penguins, Tear from the Antarctic
5.https://www.mcst.go.kr/kor/s_culture/book/bookView.jsp?pDetailSeq=794 Lesson on Trees

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The first edition on 18 September 2019

Published by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light

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