This is the script of this morning’s Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on the day England would play the last of their group games at the Euros.
I don’t think anyone needs reminding, but tonight England play their final group match in the Euros. Following the heartbreak of Scotland’s exit on Sunday, the tension rises as the hours pass. I have faith … I hope.
I also thought the England captain Harry Kane got it spot on the other day when he did a bit of deep thinking directed towards pundits in studios who expressed criticism of on-field performances in the first two games. “Remember what it was like to wear the shirt,” he reminded them – asking for a bit of respect and patience. They, he maintained, had not exactly covered themselves or their country in glory when they wore the three lions on their chest.
I think Kane was right because he tapped into a notion that goes back millennia: memory of the past can helpfully temper our hubris today. “Don’t forget!” Is the warning cried by those who have been the victims of other people’s amnesia.
This is what strikes me every time I read from the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. The key story is about the deliverance of a people from slavery in Egypt, their wandering through a desert, and then their entry into and occupation of what was, for them, a new land. Before they go in they are given a whole set of warnings and instructions about how they should build their new non-wandering society. They must enshrine in law and behaviour, in institutions and language, the priority of justice, mercy and humility.
But, they also had to be realistic. As time would go by, they would begin to prosper, and would eventually forget their own story – that they had once been slaves in a foreign land. And once they did this, they would be in danger of treating other people as slaves. To use a different metaphor: if you cut off your roots, don’t be surprised if the beautiful flowers no longer grow on the branches.
In other words, don’t take things like justice and mercy for granted. You have to work at them every day. And if you have a society that forgets its story, don’t feign shock when different values begin to shape how your society is ordered.
Now, yes – memory can be a problem, too. Sometimes we wish that individuals or societies might helpfully forget – or, at least, draw the sting from – some of the grievances that perpetuate generational conflict and violence. But, we should never forget our fundamental obligations as free people who choose how to respond to those formative memories.
I do hope England win tonight and create new memories for my grandchildren …
