ANONYMOUS ANOMALY

 

An anomaly is defined as something unusual, surprising.

We  have had  some anomalies recently.

For instance, Mr Rees-Mogg is against Islamophobia in Britain - and yet bore without undue trouble the alliance of the Democratic Unionist Party with the party to which he and many  Roman Catholics belong, no matter about its past history against Catholics in Ireland. 

And , during the Twelfth of July demonstrations we  talk a lot  about the battle of the Boyne that King William won in 1690 but little or nothing about  the Battle of Landen in 1691 which King William lost, or about General Sarsfield who ambushed  an English army near Limerick in 1690 and blew their armour to bits, or about two battles around Athlone  where William won one and lost one  on his way through Ireland.

And , while  we don't expect every Orange march to start with a toast to the Pope who in 1690 sent a band to play and wages to pay to William's soldiers and whose Vatican songsters sang a hymn of triumph and divine thanks for William's victory at the Boyne, we might  perhaps fill in some neglected details of our history. After all if the Catholic Church could give Mrs Margaret Thatcher the highest award a modern  Pope could offer her , why should every Orange march not begin with a toast to the Pope of 1690 who was so generous?  Fair's fair.

Of course, on the other hand, a long time elapsed between the Boyne battle (1690) and the founding of the  Orange Order (1791) and  people forget. Another anomaly.

And , there was surprise at  the remarks a British ambassador made in  his recent frank opinion about  USA politicians and politics . But shouldn't we  all accept that an ambassador's job is to tell the government what exactly he or she observes and thinks while  the job? That is what  an ambassador -  a kind of polite spy in some ways  - is supposed to do.

Not long ago it was only when newspapers revealed it  that we learned anything about what officials say privately to their governments . Nowadays we are finding out much more ourselves by searching archives to see what was really said and done to us. And apart from that there are people who don't believe in  official secrecy when anybody is hurt by it. We are sometimes surprised by what officials say to their governments about us behind our backs; the anomaly is that we talk about freedom of speech and still do not like it when such freedom is revealed between diplomats and their governments. There seems more emphasis on faulting the diplomat who was doing his  job  than on the whistleblower who probably wasn't.

Much of what passes between people at diplomatic  or other official  level is little better than gossip, sometimes at, between, before or after a good meal. Personally and collectively we have all suffered from it. A few anomalies like that recent USA ambassador's may have  a bit of good in them, a kind of useful sting in their tale !

If a foreign  government has  "a very special relationship" with your government but , in your considered opinion, is   "dysfunctional , inept " do you not have a duty to  the  government that  employs you to tell them the truth as you see it ?

You do.

But  you may lose your job if you do.

We get used to anomalies perhaps.

THE OUR FATHER

For Christians the Our Father prayer is the most sacred of all prayers, handed on to them by Jesus Christ.

Now - not for the first time - there is a rumour that the English language version of the prayer may be changed into more everyday and present day English. There is a good argument for this -  we don't talk to our friends with "thy" ,"thee" and "thou art", we use the word "hallowed" very seldom , making a speech for instance about "hallowed ground" where important events have happened, or at Hallowe'en time every year. Nowadays "trespasses" may seem  too gentle a word for offences by the creature against the laws of the Creator. So there is a desire for change.

But on the other hand - there is always an "other hand" - words mean what speaker and spoken-to understand them to mean, so  it matters little what age a particular word  may be, it is what the speaker means by it now that counts.   

Those who pray the Our Father know and trust that their Lord will understand perfectly  what we need even if we never utter a word or use the wrong one and this prayer graciously admits that. Still, some people would feel greatly honoured to be able to talk to their creator with the same ease as they talk to the rest of their friends. After all, Jesus Christ said our  primary human relationship is with a creator and head of family. An old Irish prayer put it, is nearer to you than your own front, or back, door. Many  Irish Christians  still have a custom of praying while going in and out of the house.

So changing the wording of a prayer is not just a matter of feeling more comfortable and up to date.  For Christians it is a matter of relationship. Saint Teresa, a brilliantly wise women of Avila in Spain, went a bit further in this - when she prayed she used to argue,  "Lord, why do you do this or that , for goodness' sake..... ?", arguing in friendship as friends do. And  another saint compared his relationship with the divine to that of a lover sneaking out at night  for a blissful intimate meeting with his beloved. That was St. John of the Cross. Can't get much nearer than that , so sacred familiarity does not always breed contempt, quite the opposite. So why not change the wording of any prayer to more intimate, friendly language?

One day years ago I asked a friend, a Dominican priest, if he was doing anything special these days and he said, Yes, I'm helping to translate the New Testament into more modern English.

"That's great", I said. "One of the things I've longed for is a better translation of the Our Father....."

"Oh", he said. "I don't think we're  going to touch that really ......."

After that we had only a polite conversation about  the project,  avoiding the biggest question of all : Why do Christians ask their Lord not to " lead us into temptation?

 Surely that is a completely unnecessary thing to ask ?

It's really a translation problem. The present English version of the Our Father is a translation from Latin. In the Latin version the word 'temptationem' is used , and there was a time when translators often used the nearest English-shaped  word when translating rather than searching for the deep, and most suitable,  meaning of Latin  which might require a differently-shaped word. In this instance the Latin word has shades of meaning depending on the context in which it is used ; and one other meaning is " trial", or "test" , a test of endurance for example, a trial of strength.  It  would be understandable to ask a Father not to go by rocky roads with road blocks too big for them to remove , get around or over.  But a  Father could well be asked to take a big stumbling block ( for which an old word is "scandal")  away himself , because , as  the Our Father adds, he has the authority, the ability, to move the evil stumbling block and will have everybody's thanks in advance for doing so.

"Let us not be tried (tested) beyond our strength, take the burden on yourself, setting us free to get on our way home......."  

That might be a reasonable version of that part of the Our Father.

But just try putting it into short, concise, English suitable for the concise rhythmic  rest of the prayer.  Most translators are probably unwilling to try it.