Australian War Memorial
If you have ever been to Canberra, the Capital City of Australia, you will find that at 5pm each day, they have the “Last Post Ceremony” and this is an “All Standing Service” held at the Museum around “The Pool of Reflection.” You can even watch them on “YouTube,” and looking back over the pool, out through the main entrance, down ANZAC Parade, out across the lake, over the old Parliament Building and up the hill to the New parliament building and the Giant Flag Pole, it is very much an impressing and contemplative scene. Turning, you will find the Swallows sweeping and swirling over the pool of Reflection, the covered walkways are above on each side, and the massive doors and building in front, and the pool is coolly shaded from the hot Aussie sun, it is certainly a peaceful and quiet place of contemplation and reflection.
The Service starts with an Introduction, Singing the “National Anthem,” wreaths are laid at the end of “The Pool of Reflection” by various people who have travelled there to commemorate their particular fallen family member, to the lovely lilting tones of a single Piper on his Bag Pipes, the Life and History of a “Fallen Soldier” is read out, and at each service it is a different Soldier from across all the Armed Services, and usually a leading figure from one of the branches of the Armed Services is there in full uniform standing beside the presenter, representing their branch of the services. At ANZAC Day we can each stop and remember, or even go out and attend special services, wear the medals of the Fallen, re-tell the stories of their lives, or stand at the graves of the Fallen in some field in a faraway land.
We have for millennia, as Human Beings, honoured “The Fallen” in Stories, Songs, and Ceremonies, but one wonders about Heaven, what do we commemorate in Eternity to remind us of the time over here? Jesus told us of one ceremony that continues as found in Matthew 26:29 “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Here the “Passover Cup” will once more be drunk as a memorial of “Death passing over us” as we have all Exited/Exodus from Egypt (synonymous with “Sin”) and left this world of sin and death for the better land, and that is the “Promised Land.
If we are keeping this Feast, then its companion feast “Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles” would be anticipated as being kept as well. In this Feast one goes outdoors, builds a shaded Booth of branches and one is camping outside for a week to remember that the lovely homes and lands that you now have, you once did not have them, and God gave them to you with his strong and mighty hand. It is a gift, and it has the referencing with a Death in the Family, a Final Will and Testimony is read out, and then the Executors distribute the assets and gifts as laid out in the Will. You cannot earn it, you cannot buy it, as it is a free will gift from an Authority to you, at a certain point in time.
Israel “Inherited” the Promised Land, it was gifted to them because of the gross sin of the existing inhabitants, sin = death, so Israel was the new owner and occupier. The Memorial was that once you had not, but now you have abundantly, by the death of one man came redemption and inheritance. Romans 5:17 “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)”
Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, Calvary, and so many other events/feast/ festivals/similarities are found sprinkled about in Scripture, and they should make us all stop, think and reflect, or even come to a place, like the Australian War Memorial and then to contemplatively reflect on the Past, where you once were, and then press onwards with new vigour and purpose to a new and amazing Future, of where you are now going to be.
Eternity is almost upon us, have you made yourself right with God and Heaven? 2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)” Do you and I need to come back to the foot of the Cross? Have we wandered far away like the Prodigal in the Pig Pen, or even worse, like the Prodigal who got lost at Home, In the Church? A serious contemplation in your own mind to re-assess things, or physically at a place just like the Australian War Memorial, could be all it takes to realize where you have been and where you should actually be going, “now [is] the day of salvation.”
One thinks of a song by Babbie Mason which she wrote as a young girl, called “All Rise” and I quote; “There was a holy hush all over, As I walked into the room, And as I stood to see Him face to face, I was gloriously made new, There was a great and awesome presence, And a light as bright as any day, And as I bowed to kneel with the angels, I heard the Spirit say, All rise, All rise, To stand before the throne, In the presence of the Holy One, All rise, All rise, As we worship the Messiah, All Rise.”
One day all Humanity will hear, “All rise, To stand before the throne,” for Sheep/Goats to hear the verdict, “Wages of Sin,” or “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” Matthew 25:34.
