Gallipoli - an utter devastation.
Like Sean, there with hundreds of others in the thick of the battle, he glanced around to see his mate Freddy following, running in a crouch, stumbling as bullets tore over his head, then scrambling back on his feet to continue running.
Machine guns opened up from their own lines in a futile attempt to provide cover fire, but the machine gun firing at them was too well entrenched. He saw Freddy just as a flare settled in the vast, horribly open space where they were. Freddy runs back to the enemy lines towards the machine gun, a grenade in each hand.
He threw a grenade - it exploded on target, and the gun fell silent. A shout went up - everyone impressed by the raw courage of young Freddy.
Sean turns to run when the world around him explodes. He is not even slightly aware that he has been blown off his feet by a trench mortar bomb, brought into action to counter the raid on their lines.
Lying in the parched and brutally barren space within a huge scorch mark on the ground where the mortar had exploded, he couldn't help but think as he lay on his back, staring up at the stars - the ground around him parched, dry, and red hot - where the heck am I?
All around him, bombs exploding. scattering red-hot shards everywhere. Suddenly, there was Freddy at his side, dragging and pulling him into a sort of safe place in the trench.
Sean almost died there, and if it wasn't for Freddy, he definitely would have. Sean lost both his legs and was eventually transported back to Australia.
War is a horrible and ghastly thing to be happening- nothing really has changed since the First World War, as mentioned above - it was just today that we once again heard of young families in the Ukraine being killed so horribly by mortar attacks by the Russian army - families killed, torn apart, and ruined.
Many, many people are left homeless and devastated by thoughtless and cruel people who only have one thing in mind, and that is power, no matter what it costs.
It's tough when the Government of the day forces our young people into military service - I remember well back in the 60s when the Vietnam War was at its peak, so many of us were called to National Service for at least 2 years, all at the age of 20 years old. So many young men at the time were tragically killed. Girls weren't included back then in the call-up system - oh, so different in those bizarre days.
We look back and can often be horrified at what is happening. When I look at how the world is evolving now, I often feel staggered when I think of so many ways the whole thing has evolved,
As Christmas has just been, I can't help feeling how vastly different it is in so many ways than when Jesus was first born in the dirty old stable over 2000 years ago. Here was the very Son of God - actually God came to earth to save us all - He came knowing that He would give His life so that all we have to do is to accept Him as our Lord and saviour and ask Him to rule our lives.
How about you? Are you any wiser about who Jesus is and why He was born in that filthy stable all those years ago?
He was completely sinless, and because he actually was completely sinless, he took our sins upon Himself, and with our decision to accept His gift of eternal life, He killed our sins along with His own life upon that absurd and hideous cross.
So many people these days have really no idea who He was - nearly every single story on Television uses his name as a swear word over and over again. They have no real idea that they will be held accountable to God for using His name in vain - pretty disastrous for them.
I personally make so many mistakes nearly every single day. Does that make me 'not a Christian' - I know that is not right. When I came to God in the first place, he accepted me, and I felt Him leading me, and I put Him first. But often things of this world can upset and confuse us so many times, and we find ourselves frustrated and often abusive.
It happens to me quite a bit, but immediately I ask God's forgiveness, and He does forgive. I praise Him so much for forgiving my mistakes.
Don't ever feel that you may be too bad to come to Christ - we are all sinners here on earth, and that is why Jesus came as a baby and grew up sinless and miraculous. He gave His life for us so that we can be with Him for eternity.
All you have to do is ask Him to lead your life, confessing your sins whatever they may be, and asking Him for forgiveness.
God bless you this week - Hope to see you next time.
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