Conflicting Ideals

As many of you know I am a big fan of Rabbi Leibtag so I decided to read the article Mrs. Perl handed out to us after class on Thursday. I came out with some very interesting insights. I would love to share one of them with you.
You can look at the akeida as a conflict between two ideals. Natural morality is one ideal that we have talked about extensively throughout Sefer Bereishit. However, there is nothing more despicable to man's natural instinct than killing someone-especially your own son! On the other hand, from the perspective of man's relationship with G-d, there is nothing greater than the fulfillment of a divine command. In an ideal world, these two ideals should never conflict. How can G-d command us to do something that is immoral? However, in the REAL WORLD individuals often face situations where they are torn between conscience and religion. I think the Akeida can be seen as something that is kind of over our heads. When we were learning it in class, I did not see how it related to my life whatsoever. It was just giving me more insight into Avraham's exemplary character that I would never be able to live up to. However, after I read the article, I realized how the akeida can be seen as a very relatable story to our lives. We also go through these inner conflicts on a daily basis. Obviously, we are not asked to kill people, but we are faced with challenges and pressures. We have to be open to new situations and think of what we are really doing. This story also shows that not everything in life will seem or be 'ideal.' The ideal is something very difficult to achieve and even Avraham was faced with challenges to the ideal. Also, I think it is cool how the Torah gives us a real world situation. G-d understands that the real world is certainly different from the ideal world. This makes me feel good because it shows that G-d really does understand our struggles and doesn't think achieving the ideal is a 'piece of cake.'