"They were Saviours, all
For this better day, they died
For you and me - remember"

I suppose this is a better day, in many ways - yet there must be a time when each of us asks the question of herself, "Is it the kind of day for which those we loved paid their price?" For almost in the shadow of war - the war that followed the war to end all wars - still we indulge in rumblings. How, then, can we ensure that what we seek inevitably becomes that better day and unassailably stays that way.

This is an anniversary day, when the words
"Lest We Forget" are poignantly and indelibly impressed into our hearts. We again become "Dutifully Thoughtful" and mindful of the sacrifice made by so many - and what greater sacrifice could be, than theirs. This is a day on which we produce many cliches, and reproduce many selections from the vocubalary which could (and sometimes do) so easily become ponderous, and packed with platitudes.

It is, l suppossse, automatic that these phrases be recalled and re-quoted as each year goes by. What then, is the point of direct reference to them? This is the point - let us remember "why" we say these words each Anzac Day, when we're "rising to the occassion" as it were. Let us then continue with a deep significance of their import irrevocably before use, and so maintain the very essence of them in the daily round - until Anzac Day comes once again.

And can we do so, not in any dull, nor morbid, nor miserable, nor grief-stricken - for grief, after all, can be selfish - but with some attempt to project the light so honestly lit by these men amongst men. They went forth against impossible odds, because they had a job to do. We have a job to do too, but what a simple task is ours alongside theirs. By comparision, we have - not desolation and danger and deperation as our spur - but safety and security. They flogged themselves foward with a set of ideals and a heart full of hope - we, with the same ideals and the same hope, have so much a better chance - we're on home ground, not in some strange unknown place - and our only danger lies within ourselves.

So, surely we, in our comparatively placid existence, can catch a spark from the eternal flame of their light, and blazen forth into our personal channels. This is why we gather each Anzac Day - to remember, and to keep ON remembering - not dolefully, but thoughtfully; not morbidly, but gratefully; not with grief, but with inspiration - so that the very meaning of what Anzac stands for can create a better sense of comradeship, of decency and tolerance, each of us to the other.

So, don't be afraid to live in a way that is good; don't be shy of being kind; don't be afraid of doing an honest duty; don't be embarassed about being sincere - for these are the attributes we remember most of the men they called Anzacs. And if you beed a spur at any time, just remember those three words ....
"LEST WE FORGET"

Author Unknown

Source - the book entitled - " The Best of Russ Tyson", published in 1973.

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