Posted in Culture
Pastor Paul Glazbrook is a Frontier Services Patrol Minister supporting remote area ministry and communities within the Parkin-Sturt Patrol region. He regularly shares updates about his life, travels and ministry on his blog. In the following post, he reflects on Anzac Day and the service he led at Manna Hill.
Growing up, Anzac Day was always considered as the time for the opening rains to fall, turning last year’s best into a new green germination. Many of us would have either participated in or viewed a wet Anzac Day Parade.
True to tradition it rained most of the drive to Manna Hill, the small town hosting that region’s Anzac Day Dawn Service, at which l was officiating. Things were already damp from previous rain a few days earlier. The Weather Zone website was predicting a 90% chance of 10-20 millimetres of rain. Well, guess what? They were right, it bucketed down, just as l was hoping to set up my canvas camper trailer…
Thankfully, the rain stopped around 2am, leaving a beautiful clear blue morning sky for our time of remembrance.
As people began to congregate, buzz about the rainfall tallies filled the conversations of those arriving early. The upbeat feel of the Commemoration Service had much to do with the amazing tally of 41 millimetres of rain that had fallen at Manna Hill over the few days prior to Anzac Day.
While others chatted, latecomers parked their mud-laden cars – the state of the vehicles quickly providing an explanation for their owners’ tardiness.
A silence of deep respect hushed the number as we remembered sailors, soldiers, airmen and their supports who suffered. We remembered those buried in foreign lands; those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. We remembered sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers who served in times of war.
We did this because decades ago a promise was made that...
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.
Photos and article republished from Pastor Paul Glazbrook's blog here. The original blog post has been edited slightly for inclusion in New Times.
Subscribe to receive Culture articles by email >
The new 'normal’ that we have entered into can certainly bring changes to how we as a church undertake international mission. However, despite this challenge we encourage reflection on the importance of partnerships, solidarity for social justice issues and ecumenical sharing.
A UnitingCare Emergency Relief Centre was needed in the Port Adelaide-Enfield area of Adelaide. And that's when Lefevre UC and volunteers from Port Adelaide UC stepped up.
A couple of years ago I was participating in a course which had a smattering of people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background. I would have said that they were good participants in class discussions but not the most active ones, and I gave little thought to it.
Comments (3)