Standing at dawn was a special moment this morning -together in our apartness, seeing the lights of others gathered at their gateways too. Our homemade ANZAC lanterns lit the darkness before the sun began to rise. We stood at a place so familiar. A gateway is a special place -it is where we welcome guests and we say farewell. It is where we discover mail or continue to hope for another day.

We have gateways in all sorts of contexts, some incredible ornate, others more simple. A gateway special to many New Zealanders is the gateway to Parihaka Marae -a driveway where children skipped out to welcome the troops coming to arrest and destroy. Now there is a memorial to remind us of those days. They are part of the stories I remember at ANZAC -our stories of fighting and stories of peace -from the small stories to the large ones, each with their ownc significance.

A quote from Mother Teresa, says “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." Surely in these days, and today on ANZAC Day in lockdown, we remember that we belong to each other.