Just a Passing Thought

The Christian apologist C. S. Lewis, and the atheist humanist Aldous Huxley, were great writers and two of the most influential intellectuals of the 20^th Century, yet when they died at 64 and 69 respectively, their deaths went largely unnoticed by the world that had exalted them in life. This is the flickering illusion we call fame, that mocks both Man of God and Man of Man. You see, they both died on the same day, November 22, 1963, and the news of their passing was utterly eclipsed by the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Timing man, it’s all about timing.

But then again, a few years later, when the Kennedy story had subsided, the world still cared enough to notice they were gone. Bad timing notwithstanding, I guess there’s something to be said for doing good work.