LAW OF SACRIFICE!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 45, 27 April 1942, Page 5

LAW OF SACRIFICE!

OUR SACRED TRUSTEESHIP REV. G. V. THOMAS' ADDRESS "The mysterious law of sacrifice is the highest and noblest act of the. human soul," said the Rev. G. V. Thomas, in his address to the assembled Anzae Day gathering at Poliaturoa Rock last Saturday. "Thus do Ave think of those men who died in both the last and this Avar. Their memory "will neA'er fade for they offered their all Avithout the least thought for personal gain."

They were deserving of all the honour which was accorded them iDUt to tliem also was owed a respon-

sibility incurred by their heroic giving. If we New Zealanders thought that a meeting once a year was sulficient to mark their memory, then we were not worthy ol' the sacrifice which had been made on our behalf. It was our duty to aim at the fulfilment of the idea'.s lor which these men died. Sometimes when we looked arrund and read of the happenings in even our own town, we were apt to wonder whether the new order which these men had in mind was in reality being achieved. It was for us to carry into our community life the spirit and sacrifice of which they had set the example. By it selfishness, greed and other evils would lie overcome. Wars were the outcome of the sclfishenss and greed and as long as these things remained, in our midst just so long were we responsible for sowing the seeds of future wars from generation to generation. It was not enough that we sat here in a land of plenty while our finest men were giving their lives: it was not enough that we subscribed regularly to the patrotic funds. What was the good of fighting for aj new world order if in our own community there existed the evils were the very seedlings of future wars. It was not until \vc had .succeeded in casting out our own selfcentredness that we would be fit and worthy of the sacrifice made by our fighting men. Sacrifice was not the negation of life —but the affirmation. It was far better to give all one possessed than to keep all and give nothing. "Therefore," he concluded, "honour these men with all the honour you can give, but render more than empty words. Redeem their' trust by giving all that is possible for the cause for which they died —peace and goodwill among men!"