Kelvin Crombie

At almost all Anzac Day services we hear those profound words: ‘Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.’ (John 15:13) Those profound words were spoken by Jesus—just a few hours before he experienced an excruciating death—a death He didn’t have to die, but a death He undertook knowing full well that his sacrifice would benefit many others. Jesus set the supreme example of self-sacrifice. In our Anzac history we have numerous examples of how our soldiers have sacrificed their lives for the sakes of others. Most of the accounts we hear of relate to actions on the battlefield, when soldiers have saved the lives of other soldiers. But I would like to present to you another perspective involving self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. This perspective revolves around the actions of our soldiers in saving the lives of innocent civilians, for whom death would most likely have resulted had our soldiers not intervened. I can only relate to you several such examples—and there are so many others even that I am not aware of. At the beginning of World War One the Ottoman Turkish regime began to implement a policy of […]

Passover and Easter I was recently in Jerusalem co-leading a tour with my daughter, and had never seen the Old City so full. No wonder, as it was both the season of Passover and Easter. Although this had occurred before, this year was different as Easter for both the Western and the Eastern Christians fell at the same time. It seemed like the world was in Jerusalem in order to remember the events associated with Passover and Easter, both of which are associated with redemption from slavery and death to freedom and life. Remembering the Armenian and Jewish Genocides and the Anzacs No sooner had this season ended when another season of remembrances began. On 24 April the Armenian and some other Christian communities remember the official beginning of what is generally regarded as the Armenian Genocide on 24 April 1915. It is a sombre day indeed for these communities. Also on 24 April 2017 remembrance of the world’s worst genocide, the Holocaust, took place. Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Day, is indeed a solemn day for the Jewish people. One objective in remembering the Holocaust is that such evils can never again be perpetrated. Such a sentiment is borne out by […]