My twelve-year-old daughter has gotten hooked on Once Upon A Time, a twist on classic fairytales, where residents of Storybrooke, Maine also have alternate fairytale identities. As can be imagined, this causes all kinds of complications in their lives.
In a recent episode, Smash the Mirror, Emma Swan, the grown daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, loses control of her fiery powers. Usually, the town thinks of her as their savior, the local chief of police whose magic rescues the good citizens of Storybrooke again and again. But this time, things are different.
With Emma’s powers out of control, she blasts a hole in the country jail, freeing the dangerous Snow Queen. Worse, her magic sparks across electric power lines, downing a transformer right on top of her Dad. He barely manages to escape. Then, she accidentally harms Henry, a young boy who has become a talisman of sorts to her—someone she cares deeply about and who has been able to help her contain her powers in the past.
At this point, Emma believes her only option is to destroy the power she was born with, the power that has saved so many but now threatens them all.
And it made me wonder, when is it right to give up part of yourself for others?
Is it only in life-or-death situations, like Emma believes she’s in? Would she be right to make such a daring sacrifice? I won’t spoil the ending for you.
But, I think even outside of Storybrooke, we may sometimes need to make sacrifices for others, sacrifices that can be painful, but bring good in the end. The father who gives up his health, working to support his family. The mother who gives up summers with her children so she can earn a degree. Another who gives up a career to dedicate time to her family. A teen who gives up free time to cut wood for widows.
There are many ways we choose to sacrifice for others in need, whether we know and love them or not. There may be times when such sacrifice is unnecessary, unhealthy even. In that case, we would do well to follow the admonition of Elsa, from Frozen, also a character in Once Upon a Time, “You have to love yourself…the good, the bad…it’s time to stop being afraid.”
Honestly, I think this lesson applies in the midst of sacrifice as well.
What else is life, but a series of choices? Sometimes we sacrifice evil in the quest for good. But sometimes we give up good, for something better. This can be the toughest decision of all.
What good things have you given up in your quest for the better? What has been the result of your sacrifices?
