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Attachment and belonging: the politics of Rogationtide

On Rogation Monday in the United Kingdom we are digesting the results of the elections to the European Parliament.  Two pieces of political commentary shared over the past 24 hours are worth reflecting upon during this Rogationtide. The first is from Matthew Goodwin, co-author of National Populism: The Revolt against Liberal Democracy.  The article critiqued accounts of populism which emphasised "transactional appeals to people’s economic interests", ignoring the significance of "continuing attachment" in defining allegiances and loyalties.  The second is on the Oxford economist Paul Collier, who has been advising the successful Social Democrats in Denmark.  Referring to the "two vicious rifts in our society" - spatial and the new class divide (defined by education) - Collier points to the need to "move left on the economy and talk the language of belonging".

Attachment. Belonging.   These experiences - fundamental aspects of human flourishing - have been neglected, undermined, and denied by the prevailing economic, political, and philosophical order.  As Phillip Blond has stated:

contemporary liberalism has brought relentless and unprecedented insecurity to more and more people.

The political discontents of this time reflect, at least in part, the desire for a restoration and renewal of attachment and belonging, albeit often given inchoate and disordered expression.

How should the Church respond to this cultural context, this "age of insecurity"?  By keeping Rogationtide.

Yes, I am exaggerating somewhat.  Much else has to be done alongside the observance of Rogationtide.  But Rogationtide does embody an understanding of attachment and belonging which enables the Church to set forth a vision of human flourishing shaped by the gifts of place and community, rather than impoverished by by the deceptions of autonomy and its denial of dependence.  Place and land, neighbourhood and community are blessed during the Rogation Days, that they may be fruitful, as we give thanks for our experience of them.  Clerk of Oxford says of the historic observance of these days:

Rogationtide was a season to be mindful of the relationship between human bodies and the physical space they inhabit - to touch and mark its boundaries, to feel the earth beneath their feet, and to bless and give thanks for the food the land brings forth.

The renewal, the deepening, the blessing of attachment and belonging at Rogationtide speaks of an alternative to the autonomy and fluidity celebrated by the current political, economic, and cultural order.  In an age when the ordering of our common life is a matter of intense debate and searching, the Church should be renewing those practices which would enable it to share a rich account of communal well-being.  Rogationtide is one of those practices, drawing us into an experience of common ground - place, land, community - fundamental to our flourishing.

(The painting is Grant Wood, 'Spring in Town', 1941.)

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