‘Oh, to be in England, now that April’s there,’ sighed Browning. ‘God. I will pack and take a train / And get me to England once again,’ sighed Rupert Brooke. Perhaps England does look better when seen from afar. If the exile is comfortably off and able to buy a ticket, he may well look at his native country with different eyes from, say, an offender who has been transported to Australia with little prospect of a return.
But is patriotism anything more than collective nostalgia? And what do we mean by England? Edwardian England was a comfortable berth for the well-to-do, but that England is no more. Steam-age England was for a short time out in front in the devil-take-the-hindmost race to prosperity. It was also HQ of an empire in which people knew their place. Nothing could be clearer than that that England has passed away.
So what are we left with when the think of England? We have our history, with notable achievements. We haves fair play. We have opportunities. We have freedom to question our rulers. We have our language. We are also, if we have the gift of humility, ready to learn from others who have a different history and speak a different language. We happily share the opportunities that are available to all.
And our Christianity? That becomes increasingly marginal and unconvincing. We know too many answers from those close to the pressing questions. We know what goes on in atoms and in distant planets. We dig up evidence of what went on in distant generations. But the old familiar questions remain as unanswered as ever. Mystery is part of our setting. Edith Cavell was well aware of the shortcomings of English and all other forms of patriotism.
Paul found in Athens an altar with an inscription ‘To an unknown God’. ‘What you worship but do not know – this is what I now proclaim,’ he said. It was a bold statement, made in front of alpha-plus people. They pounced on him. Some were dismissive. Others were intrigued. With two thousand years of discussion the issue remains. It is the same question for English people as for everybody else. Let’s try to face it and show that an English response is as good as ever it was. The unknown God has declared himself – in Christ.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
St Martin’s church, Wareham, Dorset has a tomb effigy of Lawrence of Arabia. It has other claims to fame, one being that it is the most complete example of an Anglo-Saxon church in Dorset. Its nave is original and most of the rest of the building dates from 1030. It is reputed to have been founded by St Aldhelm. A gold watch is being (silently) auctioned for the benefit of St Martin’s this month. Leading the ministry team in the Wareham churches is Simon Everett.
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