For Fear That We Will Forget

On ANZAC Day: Lest We Forget. This phrase deserves an extra moment of conscious reflection this year. The causes of war are complex. Geo-political tensions across our globe are mostly kept in check, but tumultuous times can shift the balance with dire consequences. 

While we remember the soldiers who fought long ago so that others may live, grow and prosper, we do them no honour if we are ignorant to what’s happening right now in our world. 

It is not by chance that major upheavals unfold roughly a century apart. As humans we have a quirk. We suffer from generational forgetfulness. We say “it’s different now.” But we are no different to those who came before. The word “lest” means “for fear that”. ANZAC Day 2020 offers us a chance to acknowledge this fear that we too, could easily forget.   

The coronavirus has changed our lives, but it will only be the opening chapter in the history books that have yet to be written. What we do next as nations, alone and together, will define us. We need every mind to imagine The Great Renewal ahead as a peaceful path to a better world, and every voice to hold us all honest to that path. Then, in another century from now when our children’s children face their own test, they will see it is possible to rise with grace, dignity and honour in the tradition of our very own ANZACs. Lest We Forget.