C.S. Lewis died fifty years ago today, but he understandably is not getting the attention of John F. Kennedy.
In an essay in Look Magazine published the month after his death, Lewis as I recall said that war merely speeds up the inevitable death of us all. The same could be said of Kennedy's assassination. He was bound to die, as are we all.
The tragedy of that day is of a life not yet finished and events he might have shaped that would have produced different outcomes. Or would they? According to his brother Bobby, JFK was committed to winning the war in Vietnam, which came to divide us as no war since the Civil War. He was a tax cutter and his only appointment to the Supreme Court was pro-life. Byron White was in the minority on Roe vs. Wade.
When someone dies, others ask whether their life had meaning. When Jesus of Nazareth died, his life had ultimate meaning because to die was His purpose; to die for us, not for Himself, because God required a perfect life and a perfect sacrifice in order for sin to be judged and us forgiven. There was a life and death worth noting and a man worth believing.
I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.
Publication date: November 22, 2013
