I ran across this essay from C.S. Lewis in a blog post. I won’t comment on it but will just let you ponder it.

“It’s now clear that COVID-19 is a deadly serious global pandemic, and all necessary precautions should be taken. Still, C. S. Lewis’s words—written 72 years ago—ring with some relevance for us. Just replace ‘atomic bomb’ with ‘coronavirus.’

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 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. 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 over 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 one 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 be 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.”

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

This week my Acts Bible Study will be over Acts 2:42-3:26. We will discussing the following questions:

8:30am Drive-In Worship, East Parking Lot

Join us for a Drive-In Worship Service in the East Parking Lot of CUMC.

You will be guided off of the University Entrance into a parking space. Please turn your radio to FM 88.1 and open your smart phone to our website or FaceBook page where you will find the Order of Service. Relax and enjoy this informal style of worship! Once the service concludes, you will be asked to exit out of the parking lot onto Copper. Please Note: No building/restroom access will be available and you will be asked to remain in your vehicle at all times.

10:00am Streaming Worship,

Found on Centraltolife.org, FaceBook, or YouTube

Join us for our On-Line Worship Service as we continue to explore the Scripture Lessons found in Genesis.

Every Wednesday, Pastor Greg’s Bible Study takes place. The study will be on the Book of Acts.

Questions? Contact Pastor Kelly at kellyb@centraltolife.org.

Join Pastor Kelly for the Educational Opportunities FootSteps of Paul Cruise, October 3-14th 2021 (Tour: GC21, Code C, ID 55108). You will arrive in Venice from Albuquerque on October 3rd, and then on to Katakolon, Santorini, Ephesus, Mykonos, Athens, and Corinth. A pre-tour to Florence and a post-tour to Venice is also available. Additional information and registration information can be found on centraltolife.org or www.EO.travel. http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/files/uploads/GC21_55108_Brooks_005_FINAL.pdf

Contact Pastor Kelly with questions or scholarship information kellyb@centraltolife.org. 

This ministry helps keep members in contact with each other by writing notes to

someone in the congregation. If you would like to receive a note from a member of the Circuit Writers or be part of this ministry, please contact Cindy at pwcin1963@gmail.com.

Opening Hymn    They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love (vs 1)

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored,

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,

Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Scripture Reading     Genesis 45:1-15       

Solo    “I Choose Love”      Mark Miller

Closing Hymn    Blest Be the Tie That Binds (vs 1,4)

Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.

The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above

When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain.

But we shall still be joined in heart and hope to meet again.

When all seems to be lost, God is most near to us. 

Opening Hymn      Blest Be the Tie that Binds     557 UMH

Prayer Response    Bind Us Together     2226 TFWS

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:1-15

Anthem   “I Choose Love”        Mark A. Miller

Sermon “Forgiveness in the Family”

Doxology     Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow      94 UMH

Hymn to Engage the World     Let There be Peace on Earth     431 UMH