wise
Bloggers
Posted on 07 December 2007
Wise Blogger Matt Campbell said:
...San frontieres
A few weeks back, I met a Hungarian called Lazslo. Lazslo and his girlfriend were visiting Lazslo's brother (who works at the retreat centre I live at) with a plan in mind of moving to the UK, probably the Lake District, to rent a flat and get jobs where they could learn English. They were keen to talk about what working in England was like, how much property prices were, that kind of thing. I didn't see them for a while after that, but I heard they'd started working at a hotel down the road, somewhere on the banks of Lake Windermere.
This week, I spoke to Laszlo's brother and asked him how they were getting on. 'Oh,' he said, 'they've moved! They're living in Yorkshire now – they didn't like that place where they were working.' I asked why. 'Well, they wanted to learn English – and all the staff were Czech!'
Whatever you think about the current wave of immigration from Eastern Europe, it’s an unarguable fact. And in tourist places like the Lakes, where easy jobs can be had in hotels and restaurants, we’re seeing more and more young (and not so young) adults like Lazslo, keen to work, to earn and explore the world outside their own nation, and often (it has to be said) way over-qualified and over-educated for the jobs they’re in.
Living and working with people from all kinds of nations, you get a new perspective on life – little moments of sudden understanding, or incidents of horrendous misunderstanding – it’s like we’re crossing and recrossing cultural borders every day.
Many of the great spiritual teachers I admire have been border-crossers – like Columba, crossing the Irish Sea to escape controversy and criminal charges, heading for a future in which he would found a new community and a reputation for holiness and wisdom. Or like Francis of Assisi or Mother Teresa, crossing boundaries between rich and poor, between nations and hierarchies. Or like Jesus of Nazareth, born into a land packed with different ethnicities and faiths, on the move, crossing borders every day, just by speaking to the ‘wrong’ people or going to the ‘wrong’ village with his ragtag band of half-shocked disciples. Crossing a border means taking a risk, moving out into the unknown. But, it seems to me, the greatest border-crossers also had a sense (maybe just a sketchy sense) of where they were going and why. It makes me wonder: where am I going?
The Wise Traveller books retail at £2.99. Buy online now at amazon.co.uk
relationships
For good or bad, our lives are shaped by our relationships with other people. How can we make the most of our encounters, both with those who inspire us and those we find difficult?
Read more...
happiness
We all want to be happy, but lasting fulfilment often eludes us. How do we know what to aim for? Is happiness really possible or desirable?
Read more...
loss
Loss, in all its forms, seems to characterise the human experience. It breaks us and re-shapes our lives in ways we would not choose. What can help us survive this process, even when we’ve no hope left inside?
Read more...
Comments
Posted at 14:40:56 on 07 December 2007
Phil Andrews made a Wise Comment:
In the short-term there's a lot of mutual delight to be had from connecting with people from other cultures than our own. Even the odd faux pas can be enriching in some way as we get a chance to measure the distance that still remains between us rather than just allowing what we have in common dilute the power of distinctiveness to shock and wake us up to different possibilities. I wonder if increasingly migrant lifestyles will cause both incomers and long-termers to lose the wonder of their separateness as time goes by. I guess becoming like who we're with has the potential to be good or bad. Staying separate is the same; a paranoid preservation of a certain way of life or the voice that offers a valid alternative to going with the herd.
Posted at 16:14:04 on 10 January 2008
pamherbert@hotmail.co.uk made a Wise Comment:
I am a GP in a coastal tone in East Sussex. We have had an influx of foreigners over tha past 12 years- initally due to the illegal immigration from France- assylum seekers etc, but latterly legal imigration fro Eastern Europe. We have a very cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse patient base. I find encounters on a daily basis wih folk from Africa, Asia, Eastern europe invigoratimg. Ihave epsecially enjoyed sharing the differing customs and experiences around Christmas. I am aslo trying to improve my Russian - more that Da and Nyet and goof bye!
Posted at 15:35:31 on 23 January 2008
Sarah Bingham made a Wise Comment:
I have spent the last 20 years or so living in East London, in a borough that is a vast melting pot of nations, cultures and faiths. I love the fact that my immediate neighbours are from four different countries - though all their children (even the quite grown up ones) were born in the UK. It is always a shock when, like last weekend, I go to visit family in rural Shropshire. In mum's local town there are three foreign restaurants, but outside of them there are no signs of anyone from other parts of the world. I am sure they are there - but where? And why are they so invisible? The only other place where they are visible is the cemetary, where there are many Polish graves, from WWII and up to contemporary dates - there must be a community, but no bakery, no delicatessen, no specialist grocery. If even such an established community barely makes a mark, how must other 'incomers' feel? And in lpaces like that, what role do churches - and individual Christians - have in making the alien feel 'at home'?
You must login or register to post a comment. Registration is a very quick process and will allow you to comment on all the Wise Traveller blog entries, and much more in the future.