Learning in War Time

"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... Life has never been normal. Even those periods which we think most tranquil, like the nineteenth century, turn out, on closer inspection, to be full of cries, alarms, difficulties, emergencies." 

- C.S. Lewis

The world we are living is full of cries, alarms, difficulties, and emergencies. How should we then live in that world as Christians? In this article, C.S. Lewis not only explains the importance of learning and studying but also explains how should we live as Christians. As C.S. Lewis mentioned in one of the essays before, we cannot just say that we are Christians. We have to show by what we do that we are Christians. We have to act. In our cases, we have to study hard and learn because we are students and because 'the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life.' Learning is our duty right now. Excitement, frustration, and fear might be there to prevent us from actually doing what we have to. You might get excited and forget your real purpose of learning. Don't get distracted by anything else. No matter what, keep doing what you were doing. 'The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.' At times, you might also get frustrated because it takes time and effort. Although it might seem as it will never end, you just have to do your best at the present and leave the future to God. You might get fearful because pain and even death might be involved in what you are doing. However, if you think that by death you will get to be with God then you won't be too scarred of death or pain because you know that something better than anything in this world is there beyond death. And at last, no matter what you do, do it all for the glory of God.