The life that makes an offering of itself is the only pro-life way of life that accepts life for what it is. The life of sacrifice is the authentic life. The authentic life is the life that faces up to the flux.
There are two presumptions guiding this research into the authentic life: nothing stays the same and life is something to be loved. Love life even though it will certainly depart from you. Acceptance of this is the first step towards facing up to the flux, and this step is a momentous step for it involves the perhaps foolish denial of all efforts to deny the flux. Those who take this step are no longer consumed with avoiding their imminent demise, nor do they take the spice out of life by building systems to contain it, control it or soften its blows. Those who take this step are no longer concerned with their identity or eternal being but rather they accept that this moment, like all other moments, is both their first and their last. They accept that this is life, that to live is to die, and they love it.
The first step is the transition from denial to acceptance of the flux. Some examples of denial are:
Eternalization: the denial is marked by a desire to find something that withstands change.
Systematization: the denial is marked by a desire to understand the flux so as to predict or even control its movements.
Exploitation: the denial is marked by a desire to survive and even increase holdings at the expense of others.
Avoidance: the denial is marked by a desire to run away from or ignore the flux.
All of these efforts to deny the flux remain desires. They all meet their end before their ends are accomplished. But those who pass beyond such efforts to deny their demise still have further to go. The next step is overcoming resignation with resolve.
Resignation is characterized by those who are thrown into the situation that means their end, as with those who have a terminal illness. In such cases we are forced into facing up to the flux, the very forcing of which means the ‘facing up’ is a weak form. The strong way to face up to something is by decision. So even if the resigned are optimistic in regards to their fate (for example, if they make the most of what they have left or find a silver lining), they do not meet the standard I imply in facing up to the flux.
Even though we are all thrown into a life that never stays the same, even though our demise is imminent whether we like it or not, we can still preempt the natural flow of things by taking matters into our own hands. We can, before being forced into it, resolve to end it all.
Once resolved upon our demise the only choice left is between suicide and sacrifice. For those who love life suicide is not an option. The only option is to make an offering of life that will allow others to live. This is facing up to the flux, and it means being resolved to end it all in such a way that is a beginning, the beginning, of life itself.