Remembrance – more than remembering

Tomorrow is the 25th of April.

Tomorrow’s both Sunday and Anzac day, two-days-in-one. Both days are a day of celebration, remembrance, and gathering.

Once a year, we “Australasian nations” celebrate ANZAC day. Celebrate is a funny old word. To many the heart-of-the-word means party, fun, lots of laughter, games, refreshments and more photos to upload onto Facebook. While celebrating ANZAC day doesn’t mean all of those things, it certainly has celebration at its heart.

As a word celebrate’s roots are in the middle-English and Latin meaning “to frequent;” simply to frequent, to keep doing or observing an occasion with appropriate ceremony or festivity.

To observe/celebrate, we firstly remember then gather. Tomorrow that’s keeping the celebration of ANZAC day. From our remembering and gathering we participate in remembrance. Remembrance is the composition of three living engagements; identification, inclusion, and inspiration. Our remembrance is not the historic past, but the living past. Not merely living in the past or seeking to recapture it, but allowing its living memory to empower the present and inspire the future.

In ANZAC services, activities, Hui, focused-media broadcasts and connections with others, we will identify with the sacrifice of other peoples and families in the past-cost of our present freedom. In the light-of-ANZAC we include ourselves afresh in what it means to be “Kiwis and Aussies in 2010.” We allow inspiration gained in our celebration of ANZAC’s living memory to empower present and inspire future. The day is a celebration of continuity, community and courage.

Once a week Christian churches celebrate Sunday. Not just celebrate on Sunday, but celebrate Sunday. For Christian churches Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not just on Easter Sunday – but “on the first day of the week.”

Christian weekly remembrance is not just historic past; it’s the living past in the present. Not merely living in the past or seeking to recapture it, but allowing its living memory to empower the present and inspire the future. The celebration of Sunday Christian worship is a weekly “frequenting” – gathering and observing the occasion of Jesus resurrection with appropriate ceremony and festivity.

Like ANZAC remembrance, Christian remembrance is the composition of three living engagements; identification, inclusion, and inspiration.

Tomorrow, let’s think about our public gathering for ANZAC remembrance and participating in Christian church remembrance-celebration services. I could participate in one or the other, or both. It’s amazing what can be achieved on Sunday, when I plan to ... why, in the afternoon I could even shop or walk along one of my local Pacific coast beaches ... what could you do?

Chewing ideas can be a “community activity” . . .

When during some recent article-reading I came across ideas and notions for rumination which captivated my attention; a first thought was “pass these on.”

The ideas we get, ones which inspire us and could be passed on for others to “chew-on” are not really prime-revelation. They have not begun with us, they have come to us, and they’re not actually original. Sad, after all Ecclesiastes states:

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

So I passed the article, with its ideas and my rumination-notions on; closing my “E-missive” with the following summary . . .

“Yes, I’m aware such notions are not new – also conscious, not every viable perception gets ongoing consideration ... methinks it’s worth a read and ruminate”. . .