Finding a common language when some wish to divide us
I AM learning Arabic. Well to be more precise I am taking some faltering steps towards learning to speak and understand a few words of that beautiful ancient language that unites 420 million people around the world.
It is an initiative of a group of Muslim women who meet at Fearon Hall whose company and friendship I am delighted to have. There was much laughter and good grace at our first session especially when those of us with western trained vocal chords tried to pronounce the guttural ‘h’ sound of Arabic!
Learning to speak another toungue is as much about learning about another culture as it about words on a page. Patterns of speech and ways of communicating are deeply bound up with our cultural experiences. What is considered polite in one culture may be taken as rude in another. Literal translations don’t always carry the intended meaning as anyone who has attempted to use Google translate will testify to!
Finding common language at a time when some in our world wish to divide us can be challenging. It is always easier to communicate with those we know well and to stay within our own comfortable networks of friendship.
My experience of Loughborough over the last two years is that this is a town where people have worked hard at building a diverse and united community. The deep friendships that exist within Loughborough Council of Faiths stretching back over decades are testament to that.
Yet this must never be taken for granted. It is now beholden on the next generation to forge their own friendships across cultural and religious divides and in this I am full of hope.
I am writing this in the week that the people of Manchester chose to respond to an act of divisive terror with practical acts of compassion and demonstrations of unity.
It is my firm belief that goodness is stronger than evil and that humanity has within its’ grasp the capacity to rise above the hatred of a few.
My first Arabic lesson focused on mastering the pronunciation of the Islamic greeting ‘Assalamo alaikom.’
May the sentiment of those words be on all our lips in whatever language we speak: Peace be upon you.
Reverend Wendy Dalrymple Rector of All Saints with Holy Trinity Loughborough (This letter was first published as an article in The Herald, the monthly newsletter of All Saints with Holy Trinity.)