Learning in Wartime

I think that Lewis makes some very good points in this essay that can be applied to many parts of our lives. One thing that Lewis said that I agree with is that we can't put off important things like learning just because we are in state of emergency because in a sense, we are always in a state of emergency, to some extent. There are always wars, problems with the economy, and other issues that make us want to wait until things are "normal". This will never happen. I think that this idea applies to more areas than just learning. One example I see a lot is that people want to stop giving because of the financial crisis that we are in. While the crisis has been hard on America, we still have it much better than most places in the world, and I think that most of us can still afford to give.

Another good point that Lewis makes is that we shouldn't let one of our duties consume our whole life. I like his example of how saving a drowning man might be worth dying for, but it isn't worth living for. We shouldn't take one of our duties so seriously that all we ever do, say, or think revolves around it. I think that Lewis applies this idea to the war. Just because it is a country's duty to fight the war doesn't mean that that is all that they should do. There still needs to be people to do the non-war functions of a country. I think that this a very convincing argument for students who feel guilty that they are not helping with the war.

The last point from Lewis that I thought was very helpful was that anything that is done in the glory of God will be accepted by him. I think that this applies both in war and in Christianity. Not every citizen of a country is a soldier just like not every Christian is a missionary. Just like you can be a good, productive citizen without fighting in the war, you can be a good Christian without being a missionary. There are still lots of things you can do to witness to people and give to those in the mission field. Also, what you do in your job can be glorifying to God even if it isn't directly related to Christianity. I find this comforting as I don't plan on having a career strictly involving religion.