In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses,...
In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row...
Tomorrow is April 25th, Anzac day, the day we remember those who gave their lives in armed conflict in the service of our nation.
I thought this would be a fitting subject for this blog. Remembrance is central to history...it is often how we practice history and the reason why we learn it.
For New Zealanders and Australians, the commemoration of Anzac Day is all about remembrance. But I believe that it should embrace a much deeper perspective than a mere mournful contemplation of the lists of our fallen dead.
Too often, I think, we can get into the habit of mentally connecting Anzac Day with nothing more than a grave acknowledgment of war and death. We look back at it from a vast distance now, (over a century ago to WWI) and think, 'oh, that fighting that took place, yeah, very sad all that loss of life.' And sometimes I get the feeling that that is as far as it goes. But if we pause for a moment and think about it, we will realize that there is much more that can be found in the history of the Anzacs.
Soldiers who fought and died in past wars of undreamt-of carnage, did so for certain reasons, with specific motivations and often out of specific approach to life. Evil does exist in this world, and while we are not always right in identifying it, it must be opposed. Whether or not we agree with all the varying reasons, both past and present that are put forward for different wars, the fact remains that principles, virtues, and ideas were inextricably embroiled with them. They serve, even today, as some of the most moving and motivational examples that history can offer us.
I think that these are the aspects we should revisit and study when we remember our dead on Anzac Day.
Freedom, courage, the threat of cruelty and the beauty of sacrifice are all important elements of the Anzac story that we ought to ponder more deeply when we see the red poppies. What can our past heroes show us by their example? Even today, what lessons should we learn from them?
Courage to face the most horrifying destruction with set teeth?
The determination to never turn our backs to cruelty?
Yes, we should remember the deaths with feelings of sadness for the loss of life, much of it perhaps a needless loss of life. But we should also remember how those lives were lived and what they tell. The breeze among the poppies shouts louder than all the guns of the Western Front.
Lives given for others are not lives that have lost.
I recently found this song by Alan Brydon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDthFz_U7Zc and while its not specifically about the Anzacs, it speaks to their story too. Check it out and don't feel any shame if you shed a tear.
Poetry - what better time for stately, moving verses? Here is a link to some Anzac poems, lots of info and some beautiful stanzas.
https://poetryarchivenz.wordpress.com/category/anzac-poetry/
A Brown Slouch Hat - J Albert & Son, Sydney, 1942 https://anzacday.org.au/a-brown-slouch-hat
Lest We Forget
Tomorrow is April 25th, Anzac day, the day we remember those who gave their lives in armed conflict in the service of our nation.
I thought this would be a fitting subject for this blog. Remembrance is central to history...it is often how we practice history and the reason why we learn it.
For New Zealanders and Australians, the commemoration of Anzac Day is all about remembrance. But I believe that it should embrace a much deeper perspective than a mere mournful contemplation of the lists of our fallen dead.
Too often, I think, we can get into the habit of mentally connecting Anzac Day with nothing more than a grave acknowledgment of war and death. We look back at it from a vast distance now, (over a century ago to WWI) and think, 'oh, that fighting that took place, yeah, very sad all that loss of life.' And sometimes I get the feeling that that is as far as it goes. But if we pause for a moment and think about it, we will realize that there is much more that can be found in the history of the Anzacs.
Soldiers who fought and died in past wars of undreamt-of carnage, did so for certain reasons, with specific motivations and often out of specific approach to life. Evil does exist in this world, and while we are not always right in identifying it, it must be opposed. Whether or not we agree with all the varying reasons, both past and present that are put forward for different wars, the fact remains that principles, virtues, and ideas were inextricably embroiled with them. They serve, even today, as some of the most moving and motivational examples that history can offer us.
I think that these are the aspects we should revisit and study when we remember our dead on Anzac Day.
Freedom, courage, the threat of cruelty and the beauty of sacrifice are all important elements of the Anzac story that we ought to ponder more deeply when we see the red poppies. What can our past heroes show us by their example? Even today, what lessons should we learn from them?
Courage to face the most horrifying destruction with set teeth?
The determination to never turn our backs to cruelty?
Yes, we should remember the deaths with feelings of sadness for the loss of life, much of it perhaps a needless loss of life. But we should also remember how those lives were lived and what they tell. The breeze among the poppies shouts louder than all the guns of the Western Front.
Lives given for others are not lives that have lost.
I recently found this song by Alan Brydon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDthFz_U7Zc and while its not specifically about the Anzacs, it speaks to their story too. Check it out and don't feel any shame if you shed a tear.
Poetry - what better time for stately, moving verses? Here is a link to some Anzac poems, lots of info and some beautiful stanzas.
https://poetryarchivenz.wordpress.com/category/anzac-poetry/
A Brown Slouch Hat - J Albert & Son, Sydney, 1942 https://anzacday.org.au/a-brown-slouch-hat
Lest We Forget
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