Prose
Naomi Farrell
Aspects of Hope
HOPE IS AN OPTIMISTIC STATE OF MIND BASED ON AN EXPECTATION OF POSITIVE OUTCOMES WITH RESPECT TO EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES IN ONES LIFE OR IN THE WORLD AT LARGE AND HAS THE POWER TO CREATE WHAT APPEARS TO BE MIRACLES IN THOSE WHO POSSESS THIS POWER BY LIVING WITH HOPE.
Andrea Bocelli, one of the greatest tenors in the world was born blind. His mother was advised to have an abortion while she was pregnant with him because the doctor informed her that the fetus had some abnormalities. She refused and gave the world a precious gift of his beautiful voice and talent.
Another example, Itzak Perlman, approaches the podium on his crutches with a large smile on his face. As he approaches the stage the whole orchestra stands to honor him. Always smiling, he sits down, drops his crutches on each side on the floor, is handed his violin and begins to thrill the audience with his amazing skill. He is known to be the greatest violinist in the world. Born in a small village in Israel, Itzak was stricken with paralyzing polio which took away his ability to walk for life. What magic contributed to all these miraculous feats? – “Hope.”
Beethoven was deaf which didn’t interfere with his wonderful compositions performed by all the great orchestras of the world. The renowned orchestra conductor Daniel Birnbaum said of Beethoven,“He offered an idea on how to hold on to hope because he needed it for himself to survive.”
The national anthem of Israel is “HATIKVAH” which means “THE HOPE”. Its existence as a State against all odds, appears to be miraculous. It is the realization of a dream of a people scattered all over the world for some 2,000 years. Hope is an internal resource that one can always carry in their hearts. There is a neighborhood in Shanghai, China which has a sign “within these streets lived the homeless Jews who escaped from Hitlers’ death camps and the war in Europe.” (No State of Israel YET.) Many of these refugees escaped to Israel and were then attacked on all sides. By some miracle they fought back and won, and soon after in 1947 the United Nations gave Israel statehood. It is a small country about the size of New Jersey, population less than 9 million (Manhattan has 10 million). Israel has 10 universities. They excel in Science, Medicine, High Technology and Agriculture (making the desert bloom). They export tomatoes, melons, roses to Europe and beyond, grown by special hi-tech farming techniques in the desert. Along the sand, a pipe with holes for each plant receives water and fertilizer directed by computer. It is quite unusual and revolutionary using brackish water which contains a lot of salt. This causes the plants to go into shock and produce more glucose resulting in sweet delicious produce.
Hope of the possibility of world peace when seeing two of the world’s foremost Jewish musicians, Itzhok Perlman, violinist and conductor Daniel Birnbaum, performing a masterpiece from one of the greatest German composers, Beethoven, along with the most notable German Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic in the Konzerthouse, Berlin.
Naomi Farrell, author of many poems and essays, is a long-time UN Correspondent reporting for The Globe & Mail (Canada), Jerusalem Post, UN Observer & International Report and AL Ahram Weekly, (Egypt) among others. A medical writer as well, she is a Registered Nurse and Certified Medical Surgical Specialist. Naomi is the Vice-President of the UNSRC Society of Writers and is listed in Who’s Who of American Women, 2020.
As a youngster growing up in Sunday school, I learned a song which we sang often:
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness……….
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.
In looking at several definitions for the word HOPE, I was moved by the one that said:
“Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on expectation
of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world.”
The United Nations Peace Meditation Group sessions helped greatly in strengthening my aspirations towards achieving a well-balanced outlook on life.
Sri Chinmoy wrote 700 inspirational poems on Peace. They left an indelible impression upon me. The 694th poem zeroes in on the essence of what I believe:
“If we do not have the feeling of collective responsibility for Peace, then Peace will never be a reality either in the heart of today or in the life of tomorrow.”
There is no doubt in my mind that Hope and Peace are inextricably linked. My Hope, therefore, is that mankind would embrace these two aspects as a mantra in their daily lives.
Ambassador Davidson L. Hepburn
Dr. Davidson L. Hepburn of the Bahamas is a distinguished member of the international community, well known at New York UN Headquarters as Ambassador to the Bahamas for 10 years as well as in Paris at the headquarters of UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), one of the lead agencies mandated to promote a Culture of Peace. His many diplomatic roles included over a decade of service as the Permanent Representative of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to the United Nations and most recently two years as President of the UNESCO General Conference from 2009-2011. Ambassador Hepburn is also a noted writer. His memoir “Terribly Well” was first published in September 2014, by Guanima Press Ltd., Nassau, NP, The Bahamas.
Eric S. Petersen
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Edited by Eric S. Petersen
From LIGHT AND LIBERTY: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness
We are likely to preserve the liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and perils. But we shall preserve it; and our mass of weight and wealth on the good side is so great, as to leave no danger that force will ever be attempted against us. I will not believe our labors are lost. I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance.
We shall never give up our Union, the last anchor of our hope, and that alone which is to prevent this heavenly country from becoming an arena of gladiators. Here we are pacifically inclined, if anything comes which will permit us to follow our inclinations. I hope we shall once more see harmony restored among our citizens, and an entire oblivion of past feuds. I will sacrifice everything but principal to procure it.
I had rather be deceived than live without hope. It is so sweet! It makes us ride so smoothly over the roughness of life. My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter than the gloom of despair.
Eric S. Petersen is the Editor of Thomas Jefferson’s Light and Liberty: Reflections on The Pursuit of Happiness, published by Random House. Educated at Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School, he is a managing partner at the New York City law firm of Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP, New York. He has studied Jefferson’s life and works since 1993. Other interests include marathon running, meditation and international travel.
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