St. George's Day

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." - Genesis 12:1-3

Most countries have some kind of national day to celebrate their statehood. In some countries, people celebrate their national independence; in others, they mark the day that their government was formed or constitution was written. Usually, these days are occasion for a day off and all sorts of fireworks, food, or other fun. Other nations take the day of their patron saint as their day of national memorial - this is the case throughout the United Kingdom.

However, things are little complicated here in England. For all effective purposes, it's a combination of four nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Therefore, different areas have different days they'd like to mark. You're probably well aware of St. Patrick's Day, which the Irish have as 'their' day. However, England claims St. George as their patron saint, and his day comes well over a month later. Proclaiming statehood gets even trickier in a former imperialistic nation. In recent history, celebrating English nationality and flying St. George's flag (as well as the Union Jack) was seen as an unforgivable display of ultra-conservatism and a slap in the face of anyone not born English.

So what happens on St. George's Day? Nothing. Aside from a few pubs putting up St. George's flag, there is really no real mention of the day. To make matters worse, St. George is a 3rd century Roman saint that never even traveled to England. His famous battle with the dragon is only found in writing around the 11th century - in other words, not likely to have actually happened to the saint. Some have suggested picking a new, more English, saint on which to celebrate a national day for England, while others still insist that people simply need to recognize the importance of the original day.

For such a secular-seeming state, it feels a little strange to have a saint's day as the national day; however, that also perhaps explains peoples' reluctance to celebrate it. State and religion both hold negative, imperialistic overtones here, making it sometimes difficult to celebrate either one. In some ways, it seems to make people feel almost ashamed.

While I personally am always more than a little nervous when national pride gets tied up with religious fervor, it seems inappropriate that the response should be shunning both. While I'm not sure how I feel about singing "God Bless America" (because I hope God will bless all countries), I also think I should be able to be proud of my faith and my home, and to celebrate both as gifts from God. Hopefully, observing another country's struggle will help me reach some resolution on the struggles in my own country.

Gracious God, you have placed us in families, cities, and countries to do good for our neighbor to your sake. Grant us the understanding to discern celebration and pride from vanity and oppression. Give us the confidence to always proclaim the truth in love no matter where we are. Help us always to keep you first for our neighbor's sake, and never for our own glory. We pray these things in Christ's name, Amen.