Friends,
Writing in the May 2019 edition of Harper’s Magazine, Christopher Beha reintroduced me to “Learning In War-Time,” a sermon that C. S. Lewis preached in October of 1939, just after the United Kingdom’s entrance into the Second World War.
Apparently, as the war got underway, there was a sense among many students and professors at Oxford that it was necessary to postpone the work of academia in support of Britain’s war effort, and Lewis—who was wounded in the first world war, and who was hardly a pacifist—disagreed. Instead, Lewis suggested that when it comes to the work of learning the war changed nothing:
” …I think it important to try to see the current calamity in a true perspective. The war creates no absolutely new situation; it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.” Life has never been normal.” (from The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. New York: Macmillan, 1980, pp. 21-22) [available online at http://bradleyggreen.com/attachments/Lewis.Learning%20in%20War-Time.pdf]
In his Harper’s essay, Beha compares the outbreak of World War II, when popular sentiment suggested no pursuits were worthy or righteous save those dedicated to military victory, to our own time, which Beha describes in the following way:
“Here is the ethos of our time, perfectly encapsulated: it is not, in fact, enough to be an informed citizen. If you are not obsessed with Trump, or if your obsession is not enacted on a daily basis, this can only mean that you do not care about civil rights or justice or even basic standards of truth. Naturally, we are all a bit demoralized by our obsession—none of us would wish it this way—but what choice do we really have?” (from “Winning the Peace” Harper’s Magazine, May, 2019 [https://harpers.org/archive/2019/05/winning-the-peace-political-obsession/])
Like Lewis, Beha suggests that times of great societal upheaval are as good a time as any to create beauty and to engage in the pursuits of the mind, and I am inclined to agree. On a daily basis I am distressed by news out of Washington, and, just as frequently, I am overcome with an apocalyptic fear of what damage global warming will have upon the earth. Moved by my concerns and my sense of alarm, I will continue to preach and write and work for societal transformation, but I’ve decided to make sure I’m also reading for the sheer pleasure of it, and, in addition, I’ve decided to work on strengthening my grasp of the Spanish language by translating song lyrics and poetry—not because such things are needed, but because they bring me joy.
And I recommend the same for you. Don’t stop working to change the world, but along the way, don’t forget do whatever it is that brings you joy.
I’ll leave you with a line I’ve translated from a song by Juan Luis Guerra, who, for a long time has been my favorite Latin singer. This is from “Si Tú No Bailes Conmigo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti1Vx9meklk];” the translation is mine, and is part of my project of finding joy, even in these difficult times.
Yo he visto un cielo estrellado
Bailando sobre la mar
Si tú no bailas conmigo
La noche se queda en vilo
Si tú no bailas conmigo
Prefiero no bailar
I have seen a starry sky
Dancing over the sea;
If you don’t dance with me
the night stops in suspense
If you don’t dance with me
I’d rather not dance.
God’s Peace!
Ben