The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together.
If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb,
let that bomb, when it comes,
find us doing sensible and human things–
praying,
working,
teaching,
reading,
listening to music,
bathing the children,
playing tennis,
chatting to our friends over a pint
and a game of darts–
not huddled together
like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.
If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb,
let that bomb, when it comes,
find us doing sensible and human things–
praying,
working,
teaching,
reading,
listening to music,
bathing the children,
playing tennis,
chatting to our friends over a pint
and a game of darts–
not huddled together
like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.
~ C.S. Lewis, written during World War II
Insert swine flu [or any crisis of the week] for atomic bomb.
Lewis’ words are especially potent.
How will huddling and worrying add a day to your life?
Lewis’ words are especially potent.
How will huddling and worrying add a day to your life?
I don’t want to discount the potential harm from swine flu.
Neither do I want to inflate the threat.
If the swine flu attacks me today–and I doubt it will–,
it will find me making a birthday dinner,
taking a walk, reconciling a bank
statement (one of my favorite tasks),
cleaning floors, answering the phone,
and reading a book.
What sensible and human things are you doing?
A Living Pencil 
Well, washing my hands, for sure 🙂 But like you I’m carrying on with the ordinary tasks of life and enjoying them all. Answering the phone, scheduling appointments, solving problems, explaining issues, running errands, making reservations, opening/distributing the mail….. I think you got the picture.We’re continuing to experience April showers even tho’ the May flowers have bloomed.Blessings fm GA, Dana
I had to have a panic attack for a day over the Swine flu..then I remembered how much folks love a crisis…especially these days. Now I’m back to regular life ….baseball games and the ensuing laundry pile, harp recitals, school lessons, planting a garden and alas…a cousins funeral this weekend. Life goes on…as does death. I’d like to be ready for both.
it will find me blogging… and then cooking dinner. 😀
Eating beef jerky [only 45 calories!!!], wiping a lot of runny noses in my house, (none of which have been to Mexico), trying to act like I remember how to do long division, and dropping off baby clothes at the thrift shop.A normal day, indeed.:)
This is going in my commonplace book for sure!Today I am~Cooking dinner for my family and my daughter’s fiance~that young man needs fattening up!~Teaching my youngest daughter to add unlike fractions and to spell “maladjusted”~Preparing to teach my classes for homeschoolers tomorrow~Laundry~Praying~Listening to all sorts of things (pastors’ roundtable on repentance, Handel’s Messiah)~Talking with my husband~Walking while admiring all the green!~Reading~Ignoring the news media
This one girl showed up in class last week w/ a doctor’s mask on and we all laughed at her. By the first break, the mask was off. Yes, we are all like sheep, running to Walgreen’s for hand sanitizer and face masks!! Very irritating that people don’t think for themselves. I am doing the 10 pages of Linguistics homework, finishing up my resumé and cover letter for class, and hoping the weather clears up soon so Brianne and i can take our grad photos together in the park!
Today I read aloud to the kids, taught grammar and math, gave spelling tests, read aloud some more, took the kids to the library and the park, then took Natalie to voice lessons, came home and made dinner, and then took Jonathan to see Wolverine on a Mommy-date. It was a good day. Thanks for the wise words, my friend.Carrie
Not worrying about the flu, but preparing just in case. Planting flowers, tilling gardens, teaching school, praying, reading, listening to baseball!Thanks for that C.S. Lewis quote. Your post made my day.
enjoy getting soaked by autumn rain in a summer rainfall area, teaching in the morning, enjoying a birthday (the cake was a bit of a flop – a human thing), adult teaching in the afternoon, thanking old friends for friendships, working on new friendships, thanking virtual friends for reminders: bank statement reconciliations! bottling cured & pickled olives, sewing bedlinen for winter’s coming, thinking about dinner, practicing piano… let me do the bank thing right now…(not my favourite)
@sonskyn – *Your* birthday? You must let me know. I’m intrigued by the olives. You’ve written about them before. I love autumn best and I’m glad you are enjoying it. The language lessons fit right in with a book I received in the mail yesterday: Speak, A History of Languages.
a student’s birthday – I baked the cake as a gift – dh just exclaimed: o koek! when he saw the cake; o koek is an expresssion exclaiming that something wrong happened, i.e. a play with words, because koek is Afrikaans for cake. Nevertheless, it tasted like cake. Olives – the best cure for your curiosity is to cure your own olives Enjoy your reading!
Hey, saw this on Revelife. Terrific post and some very sensible words! Couldn’t have put it together better myself.