Learning in War-Time

When the world is at war, it feels as if our sits on the edge of a knife. any slip one way or the other and we seem doomed to fall. During these times, it seems imperative that we put all full effort into our preservation. Scholarly pursuits should be put to the side, taken up again after our safety is reclaimed, right? Not according to C.S. Lewis. "The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice." It seems that war is not really that different from every day life, it just brings out the more vibrant extremes. "Life has never been normal. Even those periods which we consider most tranquil...turn out, on closer inspection, to be full of cries, alarms, difficulties, emergencies." There is never going to be a time that all conditions are perfect, that we can fully run after knowledge and beauty without a worry in the world. It just won't happen. This means that we must take advantage of what we have now. Education and higher learning is not a waste of time, or counterproductive, even in a time of war. Yes, we need brave soldiers to dedicate themselves to the cause to protect our nation. But as Lewis says, "a man may have to die for our country: but no must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country." There is a difference between defending our nations freedom and dedicating ones entire life to the service of his country. Patriotism is a great thing, but it cannot be the only thing. We need scholars, artists, businessmen, craftsman, inventors, and countless others. All aspects of life are important and need to be treated as such. 

The other interesting point to mention is, when these lives are passing, but have a lasting impact on our immortal souls, "How can you be so frivolous and selfish as to think of anything but the salvation of human souls?"As Lewis expands upon this idea, he talks about the idea of duty. It seems like all our Christian life should be full of duty. This does not mean that we must all become priests and missionaries. Rather, we should integrate our faith and duty into our everyday life, in whatever our calling may be.

As I read the end of Lewis' work when he discusses the three enemies of war I found something that didn't feel quite right. Lewis' three enemies are; excitement, frustration, and fear. I have no qualms with these ideas, in fact, I think Lewis is right in this regard. However, as he was talking about fear it seemed odd to me how he described it. I agree with much of what he said, but I thought he left out some important details. Yes, we will all die. It is a fact that we cannot refute or change. So no, war does not make the number of death percentages increase. But, I think this is a hasty assumption. It is not the fact that they die, it is when they die. A man who dies at 20 serving his country is robbed of the potential to live a long and prosperous life. His potential is taken from him. That is what is scary. And beyond this, it seems that if we kill thousands of people in war, we are cutting off the ability to bring more lives into existence. Yes, they will die one day as well. But they will be new life that, had their parents died at war, would never have been alive. War cuts off possibilities. The people fighting at war all have the potential to do great things in their lives, and just simply enjoy the things God has given them. I think that is why war is scary, and I was surprised that Lewis seemingly brushed over this without a second thought. This doesn't mean that Lewis' overarching points were wrong, even his discussion of fear for that matter. But I just felt like he didn't really cover all the ground that he should have.