Never mind. Swap out “atomic bomb” for “coronavirus” and the relevance of the quote becomes quite clear:
“‘How are we to live in [a coronavirus] age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.’
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation.”
It’s true. We tend to look at coronavirus and freak out because, as was recently mentioned, this new coronavirus is an “unknown.” Yes, this coronavirus is a “novel” disease, but as Lewis implies, there really is nothing new under the sun. Other ages have faced serious diseases and dangers. We just thought our brilliant scientific minds would exempt our postmodern era from such calamities.
Secretly, we all probably think we’re exempt from death as well. Au contraire, says Lewis. “Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before [this coronavirus] was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways.”
So how do we deal with the current crisis? “The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together,” Lewis explains. Sage advice. Take a deep breath and don’t panic. But after that, what?
