#020: C.S. Lewis, Covid, and Death Deniers

02/11/21 • 41 min

Tempus fugit, memento mori! Time flies, remember death! In this especially joyful episode, Tyler and Nick discuss how we've become a culture of death deniers and why we should instead train our gaze on the Infinite.
Using a sermon C.S. Lewis gave at Oxford in 1939 as World War II raged on, we look at the connection between wartime and the Covid pandemic. C.S. Lewis firmly believed that "Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice... If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun." It sure feels like a precipice right now, but maybe the beautiful things will (and should) always be worth doing. This isn't a matter of being reckless. It's a matter of getting our priorities straight and accepting the fact that *gasp* we're gonna die whether we like it or not. It's time to remember and not deny basic facts of existence. Cheers!
Have a question, topic idea, gardening tip, anything? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to give you a sprout out!
LINKS

America Magazine article by Thomas Harmon - "Reading C.S. Lewis in the Time of Covid"
C.S. Lewis's sermon “Learning in War-Time.” Delivered in the fall of 1939 to the congregation at the Oxford University church of St. Mary the Virgin.
Capuchin Crypt in Rome where skulls, bones, and other skeletal remains serve as a reminder that tempus fugit, memento mori!

America Magazine article by Thomas Harmon - "Reading C.S. Lewis in the Time of Covid"
C.S. Lewis's sermon “Learning in War-Time.” Delivered in the fall of 1939 to the congregation at the Oxford University church of St. Mary the Virgin.
Capuchin Crypt in Rome where skulls, bones, and other skeletal remains serve as a reminder that tempus fugit, memento mori!

Previous Episode

#019: Catholic Worker Farm Spirituality w/ Dr. Larry Chapp

Join Nick and Austin as they sit down with Dr. Larry Chapp to discuss his transition from academia to life on a Catholic Worker Farm. He explores the theology of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, as well as their ideas on personalism, distributism, and what it means to live a "radical" Christian life. We also get some practical tips on why sheep are better than goats and how one can responsibly plan to start their own farm.
Dr. Larry Chapp is a retired professor of theology and taught for twenty years at DeSales University near Allentown, Pennsylvania. He now operates the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania with his wife, Carmina. He also runs the popular blog Gaudium et Spes 22.
Have a question, topic idea, gardening tip, anything? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to give you a sprout out!
LINKS

The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day (spiritual autobiography)
Catholic Worker Movement
The Hound of Distributism (primer on the economic philosophy)
Peter Maurin's Easy Essays

Next Episode

#021: Lenten Oatmeal

What's in your oatmeal? The whole crew sits down to exchange oatmeal ingredients and try to one-up each other. Chia and flax, anyone?
They also discuss how the season of Lent is a time to perhaps scale back in other areas of life besides breakfast treats. This episode covers the ins and outs of Lent with all of your favorite toppings and characters and tries to get to the heart of what this beautiful liturgical season is really about. At the end of the day, it's a verification of reality: prayer reaffirms our open line of communication with God, fasting reminds us that only God can satisfy our desires, and almsgiving reiterates how God's generosity must be shared. And of course, because we are dust and to dust we shall return, Lent is an opportunity to revisit Eden.
Have a question, topic idea, gardening tip, anything? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to give you a sprout out!
LINKS