No "Mere Mortals"

I attended a mid-singles Institute talent show last night. If you were there, too, then you were one of the few who showed up. It wasn't the greatest showcase of talent I've ever seen - after all, I, too, took part - but I woke up today with this quote of C.S. Lewis on my mind:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses. . .
. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and
the circumspection proper to them, 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. Nations, cultures,
arts, civilisations -- 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 splendours. This does not mean that
we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that
kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who
have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no
superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love."

Last night, I saw one of my friends, who is confined to a wheelchair, perform what he called the first "sit-down comic" routine. I saw another friend, also confined to a wheelchair, dance - yes, dance - performing several routines in his wheelchair to the tune of Kenny Loggins's "Danger Zone."

Truly, these are no "mere mortals," indeed.