I mentioned in December how I regretted not giving alms to a Muslim Holy man who came up to me in Aden. This occurred during my two years National Service and, although one once took a shot at me, we seemed to get on with the Arabs reasonably well. However, just before Harold Wilson quit the colony in the mid-sixties there were a few skirmishes and so I guess most of them were glad to see us go. I don’t know how many were pleased to see the Russians replace us however.
Whilst living in an Arab culture, I got used to the music, the beggars, the teashops and never seeing women on the streets. I was chased by a camel at a race meeting. I climbed date palms, watched bare-foot football and patrolled the battlements of an old Turkish Fort on pitch-black nights with a fixed bayonet but no bullets in the magazine.
I never paid shopkeepers the price asked, as they regarded a haggle as an essential part of the selling process. I visited mosques but have having no outstanding memories of the buildings or the occasions. I did however, get used to the rhythms and cadences of Arabic despite not picking up many words.
These impressions of living in a culture where you heard sounds but not words, came back to mind recently when I read that Pope Benedict is intent on reviving the Latin Mass. My thoughts turned immediately to those residents of our Parish who, eight hundred years ago, stood in our little church and listened as the service was conducted in one foreign language and possibly the sermon in another. The language of the church was Latin but the language of politics and the law was Norman French.
As with my experience in Aden, our ancestors heard the sounds but not the words. Little wonder therefore, that when the English Language was allowed in the Church and Royal Court, there was an explosion of literature, theatre and political ideas. The resultant English Bible and Prayer Book have shaped our language and our thinking from then on.
I am sure we don’t want to go back to the days when our rulers and churchmen spoke a foreign language however, I do think there is a case to be made for the greater use of special language, with special words and special sounds to be used at important moments in our lives and in the life of our nation.
For example, the use of prayers in Latin can imbue our ceremonies with resonances of ancient practices and, at the personal level, its use on special occasions can add historical breadth and depth to our own memories.
British involvement in Aden exposed the locals to the English language and also brought radical changes to their lives however, I am sure that their belief in Islam acted as the anchor for their culture, and helped them maintain a sense of identity and purpose throughout British rule and beyond.
Our own nation is now undergoing an equally dramatic change and disparate cultural groups have emerged. Therefore, it might be timely for us to think about the cultural anchors our ancestors left us, and ask what we must do to hand them to our children.
View from the Pew 