Today is the
29th April 2013; already ANZAC Day 2013 is four days past.
Over the
last week we have been remembering. We have again been calling to mind past
people; remembering them. Past responses to the historic and ongoing crises
produced in our nation’s responses to wars, conflicts, and oppressions beyond
our borders; remembering what and reflecting on why. We have been practicing remembrance;
a remembrance we practice within our New Zealand cultural story. More that ninety-eight
years after the defining ANZAC event we process the present in light of the
past.
Remembrance
is a practice that calls for more than recalling the past. It calls for
learning, "being mentored by the past in the present”
My father who served in WW1 was a mentor of
men. Both my brother and I, now in our seventies,
are amongst the many men he mentored. We often reflect on the lessons we have learned,
lived, and passed onto others from him. Though when “talking-over-life-with-our-folks,”
the focus is “more upon what was happening than when it happened,”
– that’s the difference between remembrance and reminiscence.
Remembrance which centers in what and why
reflection, as practice is not fixed to April
25 – it’s a “huge key to mentored life” . . .
- If we “remember to remember” . . .
- As we “remember to remember” . . .
“Remember
those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground
in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly
exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with
those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully
accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you
yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will
be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will
of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:32-36)
