CLARION CHALLENGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 April 1942, Page 2

CLARION CHALLENGE

DEDICATION TO VICTORY SPIRIT OF ANZAC. VEN. ARCHDEACON E. J. RICH’S ADDRESS. “ 111 a clarion challenge the ]?.S.A. bids us make our commemoration of this day a dedication of ourselves to the achievement of victory for our cause —that so we may perpetuate worthily the memory of those great■ heart cd comrades whose mortal bodies lie scattered <>w many a battle-ground in Flanders fields, in Egypt, in Libya, on Gallipoli, Paleslinc, Greece, (.Tele and under the waters of the seven seas but whose spirit lives on and will live so long as our ideals of freedom, justice ami duty find a place in the hearts of men,” said Archdcacoii E. .J. Jiich in Ju's address at the -Anzac Day service in Alasterton. >

"it is the spirit of Anzac,” he said, “that we commemorate today—a spirit revealed to the world on that day when our little land joined the ranks of nationhood on the bleak slopes of Gallipoli, a spirit consecrated afresh today in the glorious exploits of the new Anzaes, who on land and sea and in the air have proved to the world that New Zealand’s sons of both races are worthy of their fathers —that still, men and women too, prefer death to dishonour and degradation and care little for themselves so long as that which makes our Empire the champion of mankind still survives to bless the generations yet to be.

"That spirit is a very precious thing,” said Archdeacon Rich. "As the years rolled by after the last war many thought that Anzac Day would pass at last into the realm of forgotten greatness. But we know that during the last decade each year saw an increase of interest —last Anzac Day saw greater crowds assemble to remember our honoured dead and the reason for it is not far to seek. In a world where storm clouds gathered and darkened, in a world where fear and lust of aggression and greed raised their ugly heads the spirit of Anzac shone forth a glorious burning light from the past speaking to the very hearts of men of something which in their inmost souls men desired.

“And today,” said the Archdeacon, “a i.'cw significance marks our service, for m our minds is the remembrance of how a year ago as we gathered here, in distant Greece that light was being rekindled and it burns now .with fiercer light, recreating the spirit which has kept us steadfast through terrible days and which beckons us on to labour and to sacrifice until the new world is born.

“One world has passed away, In wantonness o’erthrown There is nothing left today, But steel and fire and stone.

Though all we know depart, The old Commandments stand, In courage keep your heart, In strength lift up your hand.”

“Yes, today we honour the memory of men we love,” said Archdeacon Rich, “men and women who in ths great adventure that is past and in the yet greater crusade of today, kept thencourage high and poured out their strength without thought of self. We realise today that life cannot be measured by the old standards —those values, false, have gone for ever. Life cannot be measured by wealth, by favour, by length of days. Not how long did you live, but what did you do with the years you had, that is the question which matters at this hour. “The very Christ, that great figure who still reigns in the hearts of men, that figure -whose emblem makes- our flag, His life was but 30 odd years but no life ever did so much as His and they who, as I believe, follow at His steps today, those who make no great parade but just tread with the spirit unbroken the path of duty and of sacrifice, they shall not die in vain, for who shares the Saviour's Cross shall share too the Saviour’s triumph,” said the Archdeacon. “While Britain lasts they shall bo remembered, honoured in the land they loved and in utter sincerity and truth today we dedicate ourselves on this hallowed spot to carry on until evil lias been overthrown, aggression destroyed, justice and freedom restored and men in every nation shall have the right to live as mon and not as slaves.”