Wise Words With... 

The Importance of Remembering

On Monday our school gathered to commemorate Armistice Day, 11 November 1918. Students were reminded of the sacrifice made by those soldiers who died. World War 1 had mobilised over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead. 

Mr Jolliffe spoke about the town of Villers-Bretonneux and the important role Australian soldiers served in that town. After the war, the school was rebuilt with money raised by donations from Victoria, Australia. The school plaque carries the following words:

This school building is the gift of the schoolchildren of Victoria, Australia, to the children of Villers-Bretonneux as a proof of their love and good-will towards France. Twelve hundred Australian soldiers, the fathers and brothers of these children, gave their lives in the heroic recapture of this town from the invader on 24th April 1918 and are buried near this spot. May the memory of great sacrifices in a common cause keep France and Australia together forever in bonds of friendship and mutual esteem.

In 2017 my husband and I visited Villers-Bretonneux. The town continues to display its appreciation of Australia’s involvement in the war. We visited a small upstairs museum. As we walked around the exhibits some French people heard our Australian accents and called us over to the widow. We looked out and we saw below this sign in the French school grounds. 

Remembering is important, particularly remembering the service of others. 

Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” In the Old Testament God gave the Jewish people the ceremony of the Passover as a way to help them remember their escape from Egypt where they had been slaves. In the New Testament Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples and encouraged them to eat the bread and drink the wine “in remembrance of him.” 

We can easily forget what is important, particularly when less important things battle for our attention. James reminds us of the importance of not forgetting by using the illustration of a person looking in a mirror. He writes, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it- he will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25)

As we teach and learn about the Bible at Nowra Christian School we have a responsibility to not just hear God’s word but to put into practice what we learn. This helps us to be more like Jesus. As we do that we will remember God's word, and James tells us we will be blessed in what we do.