Many in Indonesia are obviously enjoying an extended weekend with the arrival of Islam's Day of Sacrifice on Monday. Some have left town or country on Friday, if not to enjoy the long holiday, then to celebrate the holy day.

With Indonesia -- like most other parts of the world -- heading for an economic recession if not a depression, it pays to take a moment to contemplate this day's meaning to see what lessons we can take to help this nation, and thus help ourselves, get through the difficult times ahead.

One can take comfort in the fact that for once, we are not being distracted by endless debates about when Idul Adha -- or the Day of Sacrifice -- falls. Major Islamic organizations, such as Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, will hold mass Idul Adha prayers in open fields (unless it rains) Monday morning.

The slaughtering of cattle will take place later that morning, and the meat will be distributed mostly to the deserving poor people. For millions of people in Indonesia, Idul Adha will be a treat because for them, having meat on the table is a rare sight.

For the larger Muslim community in Indonesia, the slaughtering and the ensuing feast won't be as important as experiencing the Idul Adha spirit: That sacrifice, as exemplified by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), is an act of faith ordained by God.

The moral of this story -- when God asked Ibrahim to slaughter his son Ismail -- is that we should be prepared to part with our most precious possessions.

Ibrahim's willingness to give up his son because God tells him to is exemplary of that act of faith. As written in the Koran, a ram was later substituted in Ismail's place.

Thus the Prophet Muhammad later began the Islamic tradition that Muslims who have the means must slaughter cattle on Idul Adha Day as a symbol of one's readiness to sacrifice.

Here is the question that we need to ask ourselves: How much are we prepared to sacrifice ourselves in the coming year?

One will not be required to give up our most precious possessions. But looking at the gloomy economic predictions for 2009, some sacrifices, perhaps more so than at any other time, will become necessary if we are to survive as a nation.

As a country with a predominantly Muslim population, it is important that government, religious and community leaders extend the noble message of Idul Adha to Muslims as well as to non-Muslims, and to remind them that one will be called upon to make more sacrifices than usual for the good of the nation in the coming year.

We have already witnessed that as the global crisis begins to bite Indonesia, most people -- particularly those at the top of the wealth ladder -- are more preoccupied with saving their own skin rather than helping those who truly and desperately need assistance.

Even government policies responding to the financial crisis have focused more on bailing out troubled companies and not so much with helping the thousands who are now losing, or about to lose, their jobs, or the tens of millions immediately condemned to abject poverty by the crisis.

This is almost a repeat of the 1998 economic crisis, when the government expended a disproportionally larger amount of money to bail out mismanaged banks and giant corporations rather than help the millions who, through no fault of theirs, were impoverished by runaway inflation and a major economic contraction.

Surely this time around the tables must be turned and for once, the wealthier must be prepared to make at least their share of the sacrifices -- or even be sacrificed by the government -- and help those deserving of help.

Is that too much of a sacrifice to ask? Would it help, following on the Idul Adha spirit, if the government was to declare 2009 as the Year of Sacrifice?

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