Keeping the Spirit of Anzac Day

A few years ago my family had one of the best holidays we have ever experienced, and it only lasted two days. My wife, daughter, son and I flew to Melbourne for ANZAC Day where we walked with thousands to join tens of thousands to commemorate the fallen at dawn at the Shrine of Remembrance.

Standing on the side of Flinders Street, with what seemed like all of Melbourne, we cheered the parade of the veterans. After a brief lunch (and a little nap) we headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to experience a crowd of 100,000 passionately cheering, and loudly umpiring, Essendon and Collingwood as they played a classic game.

Each year we do the same thing, except in our homes. There is the dawn service, the parade and the afternoon AFL (these days accompanied by ANZAC cookies made by the granddaughters).

This is the essence of ANZAC Day, and it always has been. It begins with a sacred pause to remember the sacrifice made by those who lost their lives. While it is essential to reflect on the past, we must not dwell there, this is why we have the parade. It is to thank those who returned and encourage them by our cheers that their sacrifice and pain caused a wonderful good. And, once we have reflected and thanked, it is time to celebrate the future that has been secured. Breakfast at the RSL, two-up and beers with mates, barbecues in the park and, of course, the footy.

This year all of the public elements have been snatched from us, but the spirit will only be lost if we allow it.

Tomorrow, keep the spirit by maintaining the traditions. Join Light up the Dawn or watch the College’s online ANZAC Chapel, or do both. Share some stories about family or friends who have served or are currently serving in the military. If possible, phone or email them to thank them. Conclude it all by finding somewhere in your house or yard, or online, to share food, laughter and love with each other – and maybe a bit of kick to kick!

From the College ANZAC Service …

For almost all our College students and their parents this is the first time you have ever commemorated ANZAC Day while actually experiencing something of what our military, and their families at home, experience in war. This is not about trivialising their memories; our sacrifices, inconveniences and fears are nothing compared to theirs.

Take whatever sorrows, deprivations and anxieties our current global crisis bring you now, multiply them by a thousand and stretch into years, not months, and then you have a sense of what we remember and honour on ANZAC Day.

We enjoy a wonderful freedom in our nation that is built on the broken bones, bodies and hearts of all those who have served and those who kept families together while they did. We must always be thankful for that, but especially so in an ANZAC memorial where the only focus is to ensure that we do not forget. The ANZAC service has become a sacred event for our nation, as it should be.

ANZAC Day is not just about remembering those who served, and currently serve, it is about honouring them. The greatest way to do that is not in the minute’s silence but in a lifetime of our own service.

All war is the national product of three dark sins that live in each of us: envy, greed and hatred. When the desire to have what others have, and to have much more of what we want, and to judge others by what we think about them not by who they are, then division and enmity are fed and become rife. We have war.

To honour those who sacrificed let us, every day, do all we can to crush those dark sins personally, so they never again rise nationally.

Let us not envy others for what they have and are, but instead affirm and encourage them and choose to rise to equal excellence in our own skills and opportunities.

Let us not hoard the things that we treasure but instead generously share out of our excess that others might do well.

And, most importantly, let us be vigilant to stomp out the seeds of hatred – prejudices, gossip, judgmentalism and baseless criticism - before they become strong and overwhelm us.

So then, as we commemorate the Anzacs, fill your hearts with thankfulness and your minds with the decision to honour by action.