Anything which must be remembered must be said/shown.
I am re-reading the book ‘I Heard the Owl Call My Name’ by Margaret Craven. It’s about a young priest sent to a scenic but remote part of British Columbia. He has much to learn but is blessed to have a ‘local’ who is wise and patient.
At one point, the ‘local’ says to Fr. Mark ‘Anything which must be remembered, must be said.’
Within the context of the book, it applies to the village’s old language, Kwakwala, which is not written down and so is only spoken.
But when I read this line just the other day I saw something different. I interpreted it as a firm reminder that if you want someone to remember something and never forget it, you actually have to tell them… frequently. It may be a boy thing, or maybe in my dotage I am more forgetful; or it might be my familiarity with sister death, but the pressing need to let your loved ones know that they are … well… loved, is all the more urgent with each passing hour. Say it earnestly, say it tenderly and say it often. You can’t get family back. You can’t get friends back.
Another thought after I read my quote. There are a whole lot of marvellous things that can’t be written down. Ask anyone who has ever fallen in love to adequately describe the experience in the English language. They will almost certainly begin with …It was like….admitting that words just don’t cut it. Words diminish the experience because of their inadequacy. Falling in love is to enter into a new dimension, a different world where things are ‘shown’ not spoken or written. Can I change my quote to
‘Where there is no written language, …anything which must be remembered, must be shown?’