Sacrifice

We often sing "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." As a statement of faith it contains an ocean of meaning. We can see a little bit of the surface, illuminated by experience, study and testimony, but even more is hidden in its depths that is only opened by revelation. Much of what I wish I knew about it, is still hidden. To a certain extent why sacrifice brings blessings is known through scripture, but the question of how is much more mysterious. In many cases, such as the payment of an honest tithe, it amounts to a combination of faith and obedience. A specific blessing is promised in exchange for a specific activity or behavior. In other cases the tie is less direct or specific, especially when both the sacrifice and the blessing are made and received by more than one individual.
I started thinking about this again yesterday when I heard about the helo that crashed near here that killed seven soldiers. It was just an accident, of the kind that can almost be predicted statistically. In every so many thousands of flight hours, on average, there is bound to be a fatal crash, but even death by accident, for a soldier at war, is called the ultimate sacrifice. The magnitude of the sacrifice, as judged by those who survive, is only evident in the medal that is presented to the next of kin.
What blessings come from the willing sacrifice of a soldier? Or that of the more than 4000 who have now died during this war. If a war could be fought without a single life lost, would it be a war worth fighting? The value of a prize is generally measured by the cost to obtain it.
I am in the camp that firmly believes that this war is both right and just. I do not minimize the mistakes that have been made that unnecessarilly added to the costs in material, money and lives, but no enterprise that in anyway involves people will ever be without them. To the question "Was it worth the lives lost?", my answer is yes. I believe that when the true history of the world is written, without being clouded by the prejudice of having lived it, this war will be seen as one of the opening acts of a great work among the children of Ishmael.
The gospel must be and will be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Obstacles to that end will be overcome, usually by many years of labor on the part of good men and women of every kind. It took close to sixty years to bring down the Iron Curtain and establish the conditions that allowed the gospel to reach those nations that were behind it. The cost is counted in the trillions of dollars, and for all that it was a "cold" war, many tens of thousands of dead. Was it worth the cost?
Blood sacrifice was once required for the remission of sins. After Christ, it is no longer required, but there is something in the nature of a life willingly lost in a good cause that opens the windows of heaven. The nature and scope of the blessings that follow may not be readily apparent or follow immediately, but they do and will come.
I can see here the difference that is already being made. Iraq may still fail as a nation. More and more of the labor required to build their country is being placed in their own hands. I dont envy them the task of building a free and prosperous country given what they started with and their recent history, but we were quite a small and struggling nation for many years before we were firmly established in the world too. I don't think they will fail, though the nation that they build for themselves may not be precisely what we would like them to be. Only time will tell.
What blessings will come to us will be more difficult to see. There is the fact that we haven't seen another attack like 9/11 yet, but that is only temporary. I am sure that it will happen again at some point, but that kind of safety is a small thing.
Nations are raised up and destroyed according to the Lord's own purposes. Rome established the conditions for the Primative Church to be established. The nations of Europe nurtured and spread Christianity throughout the world. The United States was established so that the Modern Church could be restored. But the United States was still a small and insignificant in the world when that happened. Many decades passed before we were "lifted up above all nations" as Nephi put it.
But "To whom much is given, much is required," and we have been given much. No other nation in the history of the world has had so much influence in the world. The greatest empires of the past have not so thoroughly dominated the world as we can and do, whether it be in the economic, political, military or scientific arenas. That kind of greatness and the prosperity that comes with it must come at a price. Part of that price is that our good men and women cannot do nothing and allow evil to prevail, even while the world hates us for acting. We cannot fight every war, nor depose every tyrant, at least not all at once, but neither can we do nothing in the face of evil, or we will assent to it, and that is the surest way to lose or place in the world.
It may be that in other than the very distant term, the only blessing that we may see from the sacrifice of our dead, is that we remain as we are. The lone superpower, hated or distrusted and simultaneously envied by all, yet depended on to act because no one else will. If the time ever comes that we lose the collective will to stand against evil in the world, then we will have outlived our usefulness, and another nation will be raised up in our place, perhaps even literally.
I can live with that, or die for it. Either way, I will be in good company.