A DEPTH OF MEANING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 67, 27 April 1943, Page 5

A DEPTH OF MEANING

LESSON OF ANZAC

•WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM?

Although considerably hamperedl by the wind, the Rev. H. Hogg who gave the Anzac address last Sunday was able to make most of his audience hear his words and understand l the lesson which he sought to convey.

Anzac, he said, was a day set apart as a monument to help our memories. It Avas consecrated to the memory of those who gave, their 1 ives in the last great war and of Avhom Ave. had every reason to be proud It Avas an excellent thing to do as avcl'l as Aery necessary, for Ave Avere notorious in forgetting our benefactors both human and Divine. Such neglect had a Avithering effect upon our souls and so it was lit that, avc set aside certain days to act as monuments and inscribed thereon throughout the land, the words—'Lest We. Forget.' There Avas a time, when Englishmen thought of the British army as a magnificent machine Avhich had won many triumphs and Avhich was considered as practically invincible'. They Avere thrilled by such pictures as the 'Thin Red Line.' To-day it was different. The. men avlio march-, ed away and fought Avere our brethren. They came from the plough, the office, the desk and Avere part of our A'ery communities. That was why the memory of. Anzac was so dear to us. They avc re. not practical professional soldiers but men like; ourselves Avho had gone away to fight for the love of their native | land. Love compelled them to lift anothers cross, and they bore it proudly over the. arid Avastcs of Mesopotamia, the scorching sands of Egypt, the rugged cliffs of Gallipoli and the slush and mud of Flanders. And they did it to make this, country of ours good to liA T e in, safe for the aged and the little children. They had, by their kindliness and heroism given this country a great name—a reputation which Avas still upheld by its sons in the present Avar. One thing that could not be forgotten Avas the youth of these men AAdio failed to return. It Avas hard not. to grieve for youth Avhich had been cut down. Particularly so Avlicn it was remembered that those, men would have been our leaders, our potential guides in the. years to come. But it Avas more inderstandable to j sorroAv for the living these days, than for the dead. Hoav did we knoAV that the dead' Avere not the lucky ones. Hoav did we arrive at the suggestion that avc should mourn only for them, Avhen the world itself Avas so full of suffering. When could avc once, again turn to the little things of life and find enjoyment and relief from the sorroAVS that surrounded us. Anzac Day AA T as one of those simple solemn things which avc continued to observe. He trussed that w-e Avould continue to do so, for by forgetting it, we AA'ould once again be guilty of that basest of all of-; fences—i ng ra tit udc.