God and country

December 8, 2018

     The British seem to be losing their mojo lately. I hope they get it back soon. The world needs their leadership. 

     When I was in England and Wales about three months ago, Brexit was in the news every day, as it is now, and this was producing a fair amount of anxiety about the economic consequences of leaving the European Union. No one I spoke with thought that Brexit is a good idea. With any luck it won’t happen, or if it does, it will turn out better than most people expect it will. 

     Immigration – from eastern European countries, and especially from Muslim countries – seems to have been a major concern of the 52% of voters who voted to leave the EU. National identity is important to most people around the world, and large scale immigration represents rapid social change. Fears of terrorism and crime only exacerbate public worries about migration. This disquiet about demographic change is a worldwide phenomenon, and an understandable one. I sometimes share those concerns. 

     Of course, Britain has had waves of migrants and numerous invasions over the centuries. Celts, Romans, Vikings, Normans (French), and, more recently, an attempted conquest by the Germans. After World War II large numbers of people from former colonies in the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh came to live in Britain. The question seems to be, how much change can a country handle in a relatively short period of time?

     The United Kingdom is a wealthy nation with great castles, magnificent cathedrals, stately palaces, a lovely countryside, superb literature, and a proud tradition of democracy. The land of the Magna Carta, Shakespeare, Tolkien, and Churchill has so much to offer the rest of the world. British civilization is a beacon of freedom and human rights, especially in comparison with authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, ad nauseam. Yes, yes, I know – the British Empire committed many atrocities, with Ireland being Exhibit A. We Americans had to fight a war to gain our independence from an overbearing England. There is plenty of poverty and economic decline in parts of the country. But in my view the positives far outweigh the negatives in Great Britain. 

     Even so, the country could use a new vision, a new hope for the future. They have a great past, but Brexit or no Brexit, what will be the catalyst for the next British greatness? I don’t know. But I got a glimpse of one possible source of inspiration for that greatness. 

     While in Wales I met a charming couple who own a sheep farm there. I proudly trotted out the one Welsh word I learned decades ago. Hiraeth means a longing for the  land or for one’s country. The woman was surprised and delighted that I knew that word in her language. We talked about the spiritual implications of yearning for land or nation. Then she taught me another, related Welsh term: Calon lan, or pure heart. It’s the title of a song about not wanting material wealth, but rather wanting the riches of an honest heart, a happy heart. A song about asking God for a strong heart. 

     During World War II Winston Churchill called upon the British people to summon  from within themselves the courage they would need to survive the great adversity they faced from nightly bombing raids and imminent invasion. And now, in a time of worldwide economic change and great social uncertainty, a time of grim forecasts for the livability of the planet, how can Britain get its mojo back? Maybe by getting back to basics; by building a new spiritual foundation to inspire the people with something more than materialism. Calon lan.