In 1948 writer and famous author C.S. Lewis wrote an essay titled, “On Living in an Atomic Age”. It was the dawn of the Atomic Age when there was a lot of fear of nuclear war. Here is what Lewis wrote:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic 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 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. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage of our ancestors–anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added on more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to 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, They may break our bodies [a microbe can do that] but they need not dominate our minds.

Now replace “Atomic Bomb” with covid-19. Sounds like exactly where we are now with this current pandemic. I don’t think things are ever going to be the same again. C.S. Lewis is basically saying we have to live with a future full of uncertainty. There will be more viruses to deal with. There will be more deaths. There will be other diseases and disorders and who knows what else. Thats the reality and we need to trust and believe in Jesus Christ. We need to give all our fear and uncertainty to him who defeated death on the cross 2000 years ago.

The following is a prayer from an author unknown: Lord Jesus, set us free from the fear and anxiety that reign over our world, our culture and in our own hearts right now. Help us to take our anxious thoughts captive and to put on the your mind; the one in whom we ultimately trust! Help us to demonstrate that trust in our lives by living out the reality of a non-anxious presence in our neighborhoods, our work places, and most especially in our homes. We can only do this with your help! As always, we are utterly dependent upon you to speak your peace over us and to calm our souls! May we be a walking display of the hope that lives within us through you and by your spirit! Amen!