The following is an excerpt from a message that C.S. Lewis gave in 1939 called Learning In War-time. I’m reading it out of The Weight of Glory which is rapidly becoming my favorite work- or rather collection of works- of his.
It’s interesting to me how of the three enemies of a scholar during war-time he lists, I find two applicable regardless of war.
The first enemy is excitement- the tendency to think and feel about the war when we had intended to think about our work. The best defence is a recognition that in this, as in everything else, the war has not really raised up a new enemy but only aggravated an old one. There are always plenty of rivals to our work. We are always falling in love or quarrelling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavourable. Favourable conditions never come. There are, of course, moments when the pressure of the excitement is so great that only superhuman self-control could resist it. They come both in war and peace. We must do the best we can.
The second enemy is frustration- the feeling that we shall not have time to finish. If I say to you that no one has time to finish, that the longest human life leaves a man, in any branch of learning, a beginner, I shall seem to you to be saying something quite academic and theoretical. You would be surprised if you knew how soon one begins to feel the shortness of the thether, of how many things, even in the middle life, we have to say “No time for that,” “Too late now,” and “Not for me.” But Nature herself forbids you to share that experience. A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not. Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.
Some of my fondest memories of Azusa Pacific University took place with these guys. The APU Men’s Chorale.
Probably one of my favorites was my first performance with these guys at St. Francis Episcopal church in Upland. We did two performances, first for their “contemporary” service and then for their main service. I put contemporary in quotes because if the man leading the service is wearing robes and you sing hymns exclusively, we clearly have different definitions of contemporary. Moving on…
It just happened to be bring your pet to church day. Awesome. People had brought their dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, ferrets, you get the idea…all to be blessed by the minister. Again: awesome. So in this contemporary service, our choir outnumbered the congregation two to one and once we started singing we wanted nothing more than to be able to just blend in. We started singing a hymn that was altogether unfamiliar to us. I remember us making it a verse or two before we started shielding each other so we could get our giggles in although after reading the first verse I don’t see how we made it that long. It culminated in a handful of us actually hunched over laughing. Thankfully there were enough of us in man choir that we could stick them in the middle out of the sight of the congregation. Maybe you had to be there, but here are the lyrics nonetheless. And some videos of one of Man Choir’s more recent performances. Give em a listen. They’re awesome.
A Sing of all Creation
Dolphins leaping, swallows gliding,
Glory in God.
Wolves a-howling, eagles soaring,
Glory in God.
Buffaloes and cattle roaming,
Horses stamping, bears a-prowling,
Sheep a-grazing, squirrels hoarding,
Glory in God.
Elephants and tigers roaring,
Glory in God.
Alligators and coyotes,
Glory in God.
Skunks an roaches, ants and spiders,
Rattle snakes and mountain lions,
Have their place in all creation,
Glory in God.
Hamsters snuffing, geckoes sunning,
Glory in God.
Cats a-snoozing, dogs a-panting,
Glory in God.
Goldfish staring, rabbits hopping,
Doves of peace on Francis lighting,
Shyest creatures in our stillness,
Glory in God.
Dragons sitting on their trasures,
Glory in God.
Flames that burn but warm our houses,
Glory in God.
George released the dragon's wisdom,
Pierced the darkness with his lancing,
Fierceness met with courage blending,
Glory in God. Glory in God. Glory in God.
So as of about 45 minutes ago, it’s my birthday. Yay. I got my first card in the mail on Saturday and since I can hear you ask, “From who, Bryan?” I’ll tell you. It was from the Chico State Alcohol and Drug Education Center. Ya gotta love this town. Check this out.
Thanks for the heads up Chico State, but I think my liver’s safe for now.
So I’m a fiend when it comes to vinyl. This wasn’t a big deal when I lived in Woodland because the only place to get vinyl there was a thrift shop or two and unless you wanted another Andy Williams Christmas album, they usually weren’t much help. Now that I live in Chico and we’ve got Melody Records, I’ve had to practice a little self control. Yesterday was a good day though. Check it out.
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