Nationhood

This weekend it’s about nationhood. About what it means to be Portuguese, and what it means to be a "Lisboeta", to belong to Lisbon. It begins with Thursday 10th which is Portugal Day and runs straight into Dia de Santo Antonio on the 12th (today) when the whole city (including us) gathers down in the city centre and the old district of the Alfama for fun and festivities. Now Portugal Day does not commemorate a famous battle, a revolution or a declaration of independence. There are other days for those things. No, this day is about a dead poet. Luis de Camões who died on the 10th June, 1580. Because being Portuguese is about the language, about history and culture, and about the exploits of a great people who, in their day, discovered half the world.

Camões is to Portuguese as Shakespeare is to English, and more so. Well, he didn’t write tales about star crossed lovers in some random Italian city. The subjects of his epic poem, Os Lusiadas, are the incredible voyages into the unknown of Portuguese sailors like Vasco da Gama. And he didn’t just write all this from his armchair either. He travelled the world with da Gama, fought in India, was shipwrecked near Vietnam, and generally lived the life he describes. Here’s a section of the poem, in which he describes the arrival in India

They were already drawing closer to the land
that had been longed for by so many,
that is enclosed between the currents of the Indian Ocean
and the Ganges, that lives in the earthly sky.
Now, come, strong people, who in war
wish to emerge victorious:
You have already arrived, you have before you
the abundant riches of the earth!!

Which brings me to nationhood, and the way our world is split up into peoples and cultures with distinct identities. I’m Irish, (or Ulster-Scots or British depending on your political tastebuds). But I feel enriched by living here among a people with such an amazing cultural heritage. Indeed, as I was enriched by our eighteen years living among the Punajabis and Sindhis and Seraikis of Pakistan. Some would view the Babel account of Genesis Chapter 11 as a cruel judgement by God and an unhappy division of humankind into warring and divided people groups, separated by language and culture. I see it more as part of Gods overall plan and the richness of his creation, in that we all form such different nations, each with a unique contribution, and a unique way of declaring God’s glory in this earth. Its awesome to look forward to a time when all the nations, tribes and peoples will be drawn together to worship round God's throne.