Sunday, February 13, 2011

You have never talked to a mere mortal
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities… that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal (and yet there is no way to necessarily inform them, "There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun" as "No one can lay God and His Kingdom on the table before another man; even the believer cannot do it for himself"). Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

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