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.

My Dad's Relationship to Optimism

"Is it compassion, or a morbid fascination with death that compels a medical oncologist to volunteer to predict how long his or her patient will live?" asks The Cheerful Oncologist in his Sept. 22, 2004 blog, "The Oncologist as Soothsayer".

"I personally have found it more helpful to use this occasion as a chance to sow encouragement, and shift the focus of all onto the life of the patient. It is easy to be the bearer of bad news in this world - but an oncologist should always carry the light of hope inside, and shine it on the cancer patient just when his or her world seems darkest."

My dad was moved into hospital care this morning despite having made arrangements to die at home. My sister came to get me on day two of my new job, and we went to my dad's apartment to wait with him and my step mom for the ambulance to arrive. His recent blood work showed very low hemoglobin and very high potassium levels. So off he went to the hospital.

My dad has been the sort of person to never see lemons, but lemonade. Last year when he had his initial diagnosis, his blinders-variety optimism really served him well. He had an excellent year and responded to treatment with flying colors.

The beginning of this year took some of the shine off of his personal view of the world. Getting the word that The End is Nigh can do that. Even to him. So today when Dad found himself being taken to the hospital, I could tell he felt his optimism had gone Elvis and left the building.

"Take a look at your relationship to optimism," says Helaine Iris in her Nov. 1, 2006 blog "A Downside to Optimism". "Ask yourself if you use optimism as a skim coat for denial, perhaps bordering on delusion. If so, find the perfect balance between staying positive yet not being afraid to look squarely at reality. In my experience I know that reality is always deal-able, it clearly may not be my preference in the moment, but life always turns out ok in the end - somehow."

By the time Dad got settled into his shared room and spoke with several doctors, his familiar fighting spirit was back. After all, would they bother bringing him in when beds are at a premium? His surgeon from last year popped in to see him and said Dad would get a "turbo tune-up." I think Dad's delusional optimism is contagious, even to the surgeon who had to back out of removing Dad's kidney last year because the snake-like tumor was wrapped around a main artery.

In the grand scheme of things, I like Dad's lemonade world. I'm going to pour me a tall glass, sit on the porch and sit awhile.