Lest we forget

Well today is ANZAC day.

For those outside of Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC day is like Armistice Day for the rest of the Western World, except there is a deep resonance in our culture that grows stronger each year, rather than fades through the mists of time.

These days it’s popular to decry war, but ANZAC day cannot be easily dismissed by a simple cliche.

ANZAC day is not about the battles or the generals, it is about the ordinary men and women who risked and sacrificed their lives for our nation.

This year ANZAC day comes the day after Easter and the two commemorations make an interesting juxtaposition.

The story of Easter and ANZAC day can both be summed up by John 15:13

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

The truth is that war is horrible.

I was listening to a historian recently unpacking the reality that there is no war that is actually won. Ultimately everyone loses.

A few years ago I came across the notion of “the myth of redemptive violence”. Google it and you will find a lot of interesting stuff. Basically it posits that violence will never fix violence, which as you look at Ghandi or Martin Luther King makes a lot of sense.

It’s not that simple though.

Hitler was evil.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer faced the dilemma of what his faith meant in the face of such evil and chose to engage in an assassination attempt.

The Prince of Peace, in the week before his death on the cross, platted a whip and drove out the money changers by force… Not so much the Gentle Jesus meek and mild…..

Sometimes it’s right to stand against evil.

Even in wars that seem to be fought for wrong reasons, there is something to be deeply admired about those who put themselves in harms way for the sake of others. For those not killed, many will be physically or emotionally scarred (or both) for the rest of their lives.

It brings tears to my eyes every year to see the number of young people who turn up to honor the sacrifice. Somehow ANZAC day has found it’s way to the heart of our nation like no other holiday has, including Easter and Christmas.

I hope we can rediscover the significance of those holidays, but today I just want to join the chorus of people taking the time to say a quiet Thank You to those who have been in places I could never imagine and done things they probably want to forget for their country.

Lest we forget.