ANZAC Day

April the 25th marks a significant day in the history of Australia and New Zealand. It is the day of remembrance for the fallen of all wars, but specifically it commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC’s) that landed at Gallipoli in 1915.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that is affecting our world at present traditional ANZAC Day services have been cancelled. However, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) along with the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association RNZRSA are encouraging everyone to take part in a unique Dawn Service “Stand at Dawn” – standing together as a nation, while standing alongside those in their bubble, at dawn on Anzac Day.

You can read more about the “Stand at Dawn” campaign here.

Last year Annette & I had the privilege of going to ANZAC Cove in Turkey in June as part of our Footsteps of Paul study tour. Standing on the beach and looking up into the surrounding hills, taking in the beautiful scenery, the rolling sounds of the waves crashing on the shore and the melodic birdsong that filled the air.

It was truly surreal and stands today in stark contrast to the sight and sounds that many men would have seen and heard as they disembarked their barges onto those same shores all those years ago. Many losing their lives and bloodying the crystal clear waters that we got to see.

We were then shown the memorials that now sit where the many camps had been dug into the shoreline to provide scant protection from the bullets that rained down from above.

Then we visited the site of Chunuk Bair that overlooks the bay.

 

A sobering visit, and one that will linger with me forever, as I have parents that served in the armed forces in the UK.

In all of this I was reminded of the lengths that people would go to protect their freedom and ours. As I remember that day I am also reminded of the fact that one man sacrificed His life just for me.

So this ANZAC Day although we can’t necessarily gather in public together as one in remembrance, may we find time to truly reflect on the lengths that our soldiers went to, just for us, to enjoy what we have today!

The following three pieces performed by the Wellington Citadel Band at the ANZAC Remembrance Concert on 25/04/2015 may help you in your reflection:

Anthem of the Free

Strong to Save

Night Fall in Camp

 

You may also want to check out what the Territorial Youth Band of New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa have put together in tribute to those that have lost their lives all those years ago and since. By watching their service @ 10am (NZ Time) on Saturday 25 April, which will be streamed via The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa Territory’s Facebook page. .

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A Word of Encouragement

Today’s Word of Encouragement comes from Joy Cowley’s book Aotearoa Psalms: Prayers of a New People.

Dear God, there are times when I hear your voice most clearly in greenness: in the singing of sap, the conversations of the leaves, the whisperings of shoot and stem, root, sap and cell, calling me back to creation to feel again the freshness of you running through everything like a bright emerald current.

God of greenness, you know well my tendency to fill my life with my own methods of communication. Thank you for constantly returning me to the simplicity of yours. Again I experience you in the rejoicing of bare feet on a damp forest path, in the wonder of light thrown against a kaleidoscope of tree ferns, in the myriad textures of leaves, the embrace of moss-clad trees, in the shining of You beneath every surface.

Beloved Creator, coming to your greenness is always a coming home, a time of peace and grace as the unimportant in me falls away and I know again that bright green shoot of my own beginning which comes from you and is one with you, bright and beautiful God.

In the past month in isolation I have been blessed to be able to look outside the windows of our home across two contrasting views. One being the cityscape of Wellington City as we look towards the city centre across the Newtown valley. The other overlooking the Wellington Zoo and surrounding trees and green spaces. Which over for past few weeks or so people have taken the time to explore as they get some exercise or soak in some rays from the sun and take in the beauty that surrounds us.

As life for some slowly goes back to some semblance of normality within New Zealand as we move from level 4 lockdown to level 3. I hope and pray that people throughout the our country and in fact the world recognise what is important and take stock of the busyness that we can so quickly return to if we are not careful.

That we would appreciate the world around us and those closest to us, and that we would want to understand more about aspects of faith that have often eluded us as we scramble from one thing to another to fill our time.

Romans 1:20 says: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

New Zealand is highly reliant on tourism and that has been and will be affected for quite some time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so maybe we need to as New Zealanders take some time to explore our own backyard and take in the sights and sounds of Gods Zone which is often what we affectionately call this land.

I hope the links to the following songs will be of an encouragement to you today and raise your spirits:

God of Wonders – Third Day

God Defend New Zealand (Full Length) – Cindy Ruakere

Look at the World – John Milford Rutter

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