Below is an excerpt from 'Stem Cells and Torture: What a society can and cannot afford to do when its survival is at stake,' by Gilbert Meilaender. It is a rather heady article, but worth the read if you wish to have some of your thoughts provoked. I am not saying I agree with everything he says, but this passage from his conclusion, as he draws upon the immeasurable C. S. Lewis, seems to ring true.
"We need to learn again that it is not within our power to make ourselves, our society, or those we love secure. How easily we forget that our society and its way of life are fragile and delicate flowers. They are always at risk.
On October 22, 1939, at the Church of St. Mary the -Virgin in Oxford, C.S. Lewis preached at evensong. To anxious undergraduates, many of whom would soon face death, and all of whom must have wondered what they were doing studying mathematics or metaphysics at a time when their nation was in mortal peril, Lewis said, 'If we had foolish unchristian hopes about human culture, they are now shattered. If we thought we were building up a heaven on earth, if we looked for something that would turn the present world from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent city satisfying the soul of man, we are disillusioned, and not a moment too soon.'
Life, and our shared way of life, are always fragile and insecure. That is not a crisis; it is human history. And during our share of that history it will always be true that how, rather than how long, we live should be our central concern."
If you want to read the entire article, go to http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/571vhyvx.asp?pg=1.
P.S.
Meilaender's conclusion reminds me of the conversation had between Gandalf and Frodo in the first 'Lord of the Rings' movie.
Frodo: "I wish none of this had happened." Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
