Dona Nobis Pacem / 5 on Friday - Set 91

Let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic

This year's Blogblast For Peace is dedicated to the late Jack Layton, the newly-elected leader of the opposition here in Canada who passed away after scoring a nation-changing victory in the spring.

On the day of his passing, his family released a Letter to the Nation from Jack.

In his closing words, Jack has left us all a legacy that resonated deeply with millions of people.









My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."








He was known as a scrappy political opponent in earlier days, but in his statesman years Jack had perfected the art of reaching compromise between radically opposed parties. He knew how to listen past the rhetoric, and had the iron will to insist on taking action that included practical solutions, not just lip service.

Jack is the ideal embodiment of the Blogblast For Peace movement. He sought dialogue and action together.

Here's my Blogblast For Peace 5 on Friday set - and here's to you, Jack.

1 - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) - George Harrison

Love



2 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World - Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole

Hope



3 - Rise Up - The Parachute Club

Optimism

This was performed at Jack's state funeral, held at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.



4 - (What's So Funny 'Bout)Peace, Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello



5 - Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

This was also performed at the funeral.



Peace to all from Julia @ A Piece of My Mind.

5 on Friday - Set 81

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

This week's set is dedicated to fallen Opposition Leader Jack Layton, who died at age 61 on Monday from cancer.

"Like some political Moses, Jack Layton led his people out of the wilderness, only to die within sight of his own Promised Land," wrote John Ward for The Huffington Post

"Deuteronomy 34 says God took Moses up to a high place and showed him the Promised Land in the distance.

'I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.' "

Prior to the spring election, Jack Layton worked as part of a triad of opposition parties, along with the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois, in a constant state of compromise between one another and the minority Conservative government.

Parliament is set to resume on Sept. 19th, denying Jack his moment of glory in the hard-to-swallow irony of life.

1 - #9 Dream - John Lennon

"In order to have the Canada you want, you have to vote for the Canada you want." - Jack Layton




2 - We Can Work It Out - The Beatles

"When you bring good ideas forward in the context of a Parliament where no one party has been given the absolute authority to proceed, then you roll up your sleeves, you discuss, you negotiate." - Jack Layton



3 - Orange Crush - R.E.M.

Orange Crush was the nickname given to the historic shift in the Canadian political landscape during the 2011 spring election. When Jack Layton won the leadership convention in 2003, the NDP - whose party colour is orange - stood at 13 seats in the House of Commons.

The Liberals were in power with 172 seats, Conservatives as Official Opposition with 78 seats, the Bloc Québécois at 38 seats.

Jack's Orange Crush gave the Conservatives their elusive majority, which took three elections and resulted in 166 seats. The Liberals fell to a freakish 34 seats. The Bloc were decimated at 4 seats, and the Green Party made another historic win with its first-ever seat in the House.

The Orange Crush swept through Canada and turned the Opposition over to the NDP with an astounding 103 seats.

“We wanted to let you know that on Saturday, August 27 from sundown to sunrise, the CN Tower will be lit orange to honour the passing of the Honourable Jack Layton,” Patrick Leavey, CN Tower’s marketing manager

"Niagara Falls will be illuminated orange this Saturday in a tribute to NDP leader Jack Layton who died on Monday following his second battle with cancer. The lighting of the falls is set to coincide with the state funeral scheduled to take place Saturday afternoon, said the Niagara Parks Commission who put in the request to the NIagara Falls Illumination board." - NiagaraThisWeek



4 - Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Dianna Ross

"With the last of his life force, he shone a light over this whole country in that sweet, wise letter. And in doing so, he whipped off another miracle.

Jack couldn’t overcome the toll taken on his body by the punishing grandeur of his achievement in this last year of his life. But he has upped the ante in a way none of us could have imagined.

True even beyond form, Jack has left us his spirit, still hard at work. Though we are laying his body to rest this weekend, Jack speaks to us now more powerfully and compellingly than ever.

Who knows how much Jack’s over-the-top election commitment stole from his days on this planet? But his unquenchable zest for love, his unstoppable faith in hope and that crazy, unwavering optimism of his are building an even bigger, better movement from the other side of the veil." - Alice Klein, NOW Magazine



5 - Rise Up - Parachute Club

This song will be performed at his state funeral on Saturday, at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.

Thursday Thirteen - 225 - 13 Excerpts From Jack Layton's Letter to Canadians

Like millions of Canadians, my heart was crushed on Monday when I heard the news that Jack Layton, the Official Opposition Leader had passed away.

We all knew that he was declining quickly from cancer. Though he'd successfully treated his prostate cancer following a 2010 diagnosis, the cross-country federal election he ran this past spring took its toll. In leading his party to an historic, political-landscape-changing victory, Jack Layton developed another undisclosed form of cancer, from which he did not recover.

On the day of his passing, Layton's family released a letter to a nation in mourning. Here are thirteen excerpts from this astounding gesture - so typical of a man I've admired since I moved to Toronto in the mid-80s.








1 - "Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

2 - Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

3 - I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

4 - To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future.

5 - My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

6 - To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party. Our cause is much bigger than any one leader. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

7 - To the members of our parliamentary caucus: It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

8 - To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided to work together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

9 - To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

10 - And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity.

11 - Your vote matters. Working for change can actually bring about change.

12 - Consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

13 - My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

























Jack Layton's family have asked for donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Broadbent Institute.

"Drawing on contracted studies and volunteer work, the small, Ottawa-based organization will pursue the development of social democracy through research, education and training. It will rely on private fundraising." - Les Whittington, Toronto Star