International Day of Hope July 12, 2025
“Everything that is done in the world
is done by hope.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Part 1 - Triumph Over the Ebb of LifePart 2A - The Lost White DovePart 2B - Wounded Pigeon - Wounded Peace
Part 3 - Optimism - the future is much better than the past and present.
Part 4 - 50 Verses of Meditation for Peace(A Self-Examination)
ANNEX A - A Universal Need in Uncertain Times. "The United Nations is
the product of hope." - UN Secretary-General António Guterres
ANNEX B - Longfellow's Psalm of Life uplifts the spirit these critical times
Part 1 - Triumph Over the Ebb of Life
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” - Victor E Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Ebb of Life wall mural in acrylic by the author at his residence,
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.
Feature a person you personally know who triumphed in the midst of crisis. Cite his achievement and the lesson which we can derive from him and his experience.
There are times we search the sky for a speck of moving light, a wish ready at hand. But the stars, thousands of them simply hang on flickering, and none of them falling out. When we are in this situation we must be in the Ebb of Life. What is this strange land?
Soon enough we realize we are orphans of the universe. An orphan often talks to himself, for there is no one else around. He thinks and feels that the world has shrunk. It is indeed a lonely place.
But this is the place where Michelangelo single handedly made his masterpiece, the huge paintings of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In solitude and meditation he saw God, His angels and saints, and he made them models of his art.
It is here where Dr Jose P Rizal wrote the famous Noli Me Tangere which ignited the Philippine Revolution. He saw meaning in the death of a moth that singed into his lamp - to become the symbol of martyrdom.
Helen Keller, in her solace of total blindness wrote, If I were given three days to see, a moving essay which made people see the world better. Frederick Handel composed The Messiah, the greatest religious composition ever made, without food and sleep for days.
Robert the Bruce, the great Scottish hero hid in a cave and learned his lessons on persistence and strategy from a spider while waiting for a chance to escape his pursuers. Later he formed a huge army which defeated the English army, the latter to grant Scotland full independence.What could have happened to Dantes, the count of Monte Cristo, in the novel of the same title by Alexander Dumas if he simply gave in to despair in the dungeon? From an old fellow prisoner he found wisdom in facing the harsh realities of life – and a secret of a hidden treasure. He escaped from prison, and with tremendous wealth, succeeded in avenging his plotters. At the end of the story, he realized that revenge does not bring true peace.
Helen Keller
Here are other men and women who capitalized on the ebb of their lives to emerge with great achievements:
· Victor E Frankl – Europe’s leading psychiatrist, founded a new theory, logotherapy, while detained in a Nazi concentration camp during WW II. He became the most significant modern thinker in the field of psychotherapy. His book Man’s Search for Meaning sold more than two millions copies.Victor E Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
John Milton wrote Paradise Lost when he had normal eyesight and Paradise Regained after losing it. His works comprise the greatest epic poem in English literature, a profound exploration of the moral problems of God’s justice, through the poet’s genius in fusing classicism and innovation, narrative and drama.
· Albert Schweitzer – philosopher, medical doctor, writer, teacher, philanthropist, musician, rolled into one, stands tall among the world’s greatest humanitarians. Instead of enjoying fame and the comfort of high society, he chose to spend most of his life in a remote village in the Dark Continent – Africa - healing the sick, spreading the gospel, fighting ignorance through education, and bridging the civilized and primitive world.
· Florence Nightingale renounced “good life” in her native country, England, to join volunteers to serve in an army hospital during the Crimean War. It was extremely dangerous for women to be at the battlefront, but she persisted and brought to the eyes of the world the importance and dignity of the nursing profession. The Lady with a Lamp making her rounds among the wounded and sick to the wee hours became the symbol of nursing.
Florence Nightingale
Mahatma Gandhi, one-man against the British empire, underwent extreme personal sacrifice - from humiliation to self-impose fasting – until India was granted independence.
There are many men and women who labored under great pains and odds, who rose to significance and fame. And there are even more who lived and died like the Unknown Soldier.Mahatma Gandhi, Man of the last Millenium
Young Darwin was a disgrace to his prominent family. He chose to be a naturalist defying his father wish to become a doctor. He suffered much at sea for nearly five years as a naturalist, lived in complete isolation because of his radical view of evolution which is contrary to the Doctrine of Creation. He was ridiculed as a monkey for this Ascent of Man, other publications of the same concept of evolution, notwithstanding.
Great works, great deeds, are distilled from hardship and misfortune. They bring out the best in a person. Often the battle is but our own, and the enemy is us, yet the victor is us, too.
It is no wonder that if we look up long enough, and think of the enormous reserve in us waiting to be tapped, while keeping faith in the Almighty to whom we owe it, all the stars will hang on shining and twinkling as if to tell us we are not orphans of the universe. ~
“Life is a dance between heaven and earth, the ebb and flow of life.” - Maurice Spees
Part 2A - The Lost White Dove*
"Emissary of peace and love,
lost and lonely this little dove."
lost and lonely this little dove."
*A call for peace in war-torn Israel-Gaza-Iran, and Russia-Ukraine -
a call to other war zones as well. ~
Part 2B - Wounded Pigeon - Wounded Peace
Pigeon felled by air gun found refuge in the author's backyard.
It soon recovered from its wounds and became a pet of the family.
Pigeons and doves are one, having a common genetic origin,* and seeing them around reminds us of peace, the universal yet elusive message to mankind which they carry throughout the world.
The dove of Noah that monitored the receding flood water in the bible, and today's doves and pigeons on people's parks, both lift the human spirit out of its low ebb of hope and happiness.
Cooing, their characteristic calling and singing, breaks silence and fills the emptiness of the landscape and treetops - and on listening to this peculiar sound, makes us feel we are not alone.
They build their nests on trees, grassy fields, old homes, and any conceivable place where they can find food, security, comfort, company and peace, which they themselves carry and share.
They fill the sky to the delight of everyone, alight on some places to mingle with people in their leisure, perch on mandala or haystacks, glean on newly harvested fields and on the roadside.
They make good pets, and we train them to become part of our games and sports, thanks to their domestic traits, agility and homing instinct - from racing to carrying our messages.
They make perfect specimens in the laboratory, from Charles Darwin's study of evolution to BF Skinner's experiment on conditioned learning, numerous researches notwithstanding.
Wounded Peace painting in acrylic showing details, by AVRotor 2020
*Pigeons and doves belong to the same family of birds (Columbidae), which consists of more than 300 species of birds.
Part 3 -
Optimism - the future is much better than the past and present.
(A Self-Examination)
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”– Winston Churchill
Future scientist - setting a dream come true.
How optimistic are you? Here is a self-examination. Use the Likert scale: 1 low, 2 fair, 3 high, 4 very high, 5 outstanding. Please see rating at the end of the article. Share your experience in this lesson with your family and friends.
1. When in your loneliness see dark clouds hovering, their edges glistening with silver lining, you wish rain to fall and turn the brown hills and parched fields into verdant green.
2. When tired, you take a deep breath of sigh and relief, and up in the sky you see migrating birds in V-formation, a collective strategy in long travel to the South.
3. When walking aimlessly, you take time out to watch the flowers of Nymphaea and Lotus emerging from a nearby pond as they open gracefully with the morning sun.
4. When you worry about global warming, its growing menace, you take measures in your capacity in curving its effect for the protection of the present and future generations.
5. When feeling stressed and worn out because of too much work and very little time for rest, you stop, look and listen to an inner voice longing to be heard and to be loved.
6. When you think you have poor memory, you must admit the fact that memory paves the way for renewal and preparation for the future with a clean slate, so to speak.
7. When you see little chance for the economy to grow, you still go into business, small as it may be, with the belief in the "bottom-up" approach to economic growth.
8. When you lack pep and interest in your work, and you have a family to support, aiming at a comfortable retirement and bright future of your children, take heart, enliven the spirit.
9. When going out of the house and see a black cat, a crow perched on a tree, and the first person you meet is an old woman, don't let superstition bar your way and spoil your day.
10. When saddened by the destruction of the environment, you plant trees even at an old age, even if you will not reap the reward yourself - it is your humble contribution to the world.
11. When you are in grief because a loved one has passed away, you accept the inevitability of such loss and find comfort and strength in facing life from the memory of the departed.
12. When you are disheartened by news about conflicts, graft and corruption, disaster, etc., you consider these as challenge for reform and test of values to which you are a part.
13. When the things you longed for in life have not been realized, and you are aware that time is running out, and no one but you can help, believe that life begins at forty - or sixty.
14. When you contemplate defeat and heartache, you rise above pain and regret, and focus rather on how these can be avoided, and more than that - to become victorious.
15. When you are in the lowest ebb of life literally holding a piece of rope, you remember sometime you were asked if you wish to live you life all over again, and you said, yes.
"Optimists work longer hours and tend to earn more. They even save more." Time
"Without a neural mechanism that generates unrealistic optimism, all humans would be mildly depressed." Time
"Awareness of mortality on its own would have led evolution to a dead end. The despair would have have interfered with our daily function, bringing the activities needed for survival to a stop... Knowledge of death had to emerge side by side with the persistent ability to picture a bright future." Ajit Varkl, University of California (Time, June 2011)
+Darwin.jpg)
Charles Darwin, proponent of the most controversial issue on evolution through natural selection; Mao Tse Tung, China's greatest leader; Alexander the Great, first proponent of a "United Nations" concept of world peace.
Rating: 61 - 75 You are a model of Optimism. Share it. Teach others.
45 - 60 You are happy and hopeful, you see a bright future.
44 and below - Read about the saga of great men and women.
45 - 60 You are happy and hopeful, you see a bright future.
44 and below - Read about the saga of great men and women.
Part 4 - 50 Verses of Meditation for Peace
For group reading with appropriate background music such as Meditation (From the Thais) by Massenet, Nightingale by Enrico Toselli, and On Wings of Song by Felix Mendelssohn. Facilitator sets the sequence in meditative mood either indoor or under the shade of trees.
A Living Universe, AV Rotor 2022
16. From respite in summer fallow,
The fields start a season anew.
17. From green to gold the grains become
As they store the power of the sun.
18. Not all sand dunes for sure
Ends up on empty shore.
19. One little smoke tells the difference,
Like a faint pulse is life's reference.
20. It's collective memory that I'm a part
To write my life's story when I depart.
21. Lost time, lost opportunity and lost gain,
like passing wind that may not come again.
22. Who sees silver lining of clouds dark and bold
seeks not at rainbow's end a pot of gold.
23. A clenched fist softens under a blue sky
like high waves, after tempest, die.
24. When a flock of wild geese takes into the air
a leader must get ahead to break the barrier.
32. As we undervalue ourselves, so do others
undervalue us. Lo, to us all little brothers.
33. Self-doubt at the start is often necessary
to seek perfection of the trade we carry.
34. What is more mean than envy or indolence
but the two themselves riding on insolence.
35. The worst kind of persecution occurs in the mind,
that of the body we can often undermine.
36. How seldom, if at all, do we weigh our neighbors
the way we weigh ourselves with the same favors?
A Living Universe, AV Rotor 2022
1. When the skies cry and tears fall,
The grass is greener, so with the soul.
2. The rain pelts on the faces of children
Turned heavenward. Look my brethren.
3. Walks he alone in the rain singing,
Whether the wind's cool or the sun peeping.
4. If I'm responsible for what I tame,
Would I have a choice of only the lame?
5. A gentle breeze came through a lid;
Where's the window when the wall's solid?
6. Pray, but if Thor holds back the lightning bolts,
We may not have mushroom and the jolts.
7. Hush! Suddenly the world became still;
Gone is the lark or the raven on the sill.
8. Saxon wall, each turret a guard-
Now empty, lonely is war afterward.
9. Radial symmetry starts from the center,
That balances an outside force to enter.
10. What good is a lamp at the ledge?
Wait 'til the day reaches its edge.
11. In seeing our past we find little to share,
If the past is the present we're living in.
12. In abstract art you lose reality;
How then can I paint truth and beauty?
13. Brick wall, brick roof, brick stair,
Glisten in the rain, dull in summer air.
14.What's essential can't be seen by the eye
Like the faith of Keller and Captain Bligh.
15. Similar is rainbow and moth in flight
When you see them against the light.
A slice of rainbow
The grass is greener, so with the soul.
2. The rain pelts on the faces of children
Turned heavenward. Look my brethren.
3. Walks he alone in the rain singing,
Whether the wind's cool or the sun peeping.
4. If I'm responsible for what I tame,
Would I have a choice of only the lame?
5. A gentle breeze came through a lid;
Where's the window when the wall's solid?
6. Pray, but if Thor holds back the lightning bolts,
We may not have mushroom and the jolts.
7. Hush! Suddenly the world became still;
Gone is the lark or the raven on the sill.
8. Saxon wall, each turret a guard-
Now empty, lonely is war afterward.
9. Radial symmetry starts from the center,
That balances an outside force to enter.
10. What good is a lamp at the ledge?
Wait 'til the day reaches its edge.
11. In seeing our past we find little to share,
If the past is the present we're living in.
12. In abstract art you lose reality;
How then can I paint truth and beauty?
13. Brick wall, brick roof, brick stair,
Glisten in the rain, dull in summer air.
14.What's essential can't be seen by the eye
Like the faith of Keller and Captain Bligh.
15. Similar is rainbow and moth in flight
When you see them against the light.
A slice of rainbow
16. From respite in summer fallow,
The fields start a season anew.
17. From green to gold the grains become
As they store the power of the sun.
18. Not all sand dunes for sure
Ends up on empty shore.
19. One little smoke tells the difference,
Like a faint pulse is life's reference.
20. It's collective memory that I'm a part
To write my life's story when I depart.
21. Lost time, lost opportunity and lost gain,
like passing wind that may not come again.
22. Who sees silver lining of clouds dark and bold
seeks not at rainbow's end a pot of gold.
23. A clenched fist softens under a blue sky
like high waves, after tempest, die.
24. When a flock of wild geese takes into the air
a leader must get ahead to break the barrier.
Swallows on wire. Florida Blanca, Pampanga
25. Even to a strong man, a little danger may create
the impression he's small or the problem is great.
26. In the doldrums or during sudden gusts,
the ship is much safer with a bare mast.
27. Wind, current, and keel make a perfect trio
only if they have one direction to follow.
28. You really can't tell where a sailboat goes
without keel, but to where the wind blows.
29. The sound of a yes may be deep or hollow,
and knowing it only by its own echo.
30. Walk, don't run, to see better and to know
the countryside, Mother Nature and Thou.~
31. We do not have the time, indeed an alibi
to indolence and loafing, letting time pass by.
Sun on a hazy day
the impression he's small or the problem is great.
26. In the doldrums or during sudden gusts,
the ship is much safer with a bare mast.
27. Wind, current, and keel make a perfect trio
only if they have one direction to follow.
28. You really can't tell where a sailboat goes
without keel, but to where the wind blows.
29. The sound of a yes may be deep or hollow,
and knowing it only by its own echo.
30. Walk, don't run, to see better and to know
the countryside, Mother Nature and Thou.~
31. We do not have the time, indeed an alibi
to indolence and loafing, letting time pass by.
Sun on a hazy day
32. As we undervalue ourselves, so do others
undervalue us. Lo, to us all little brothers.
33. Self-doubt at the start is often necessary
to seek perfection of the trade we carry.
34. What is more mean than envy or indolence
but the two themselves riding on insolence.
35. The worst kind of persecution occurs in the mind,
that of the body we can often undermine.
36. How seldom, if at all, do we weigh our neighbors
the way we weigh ourselves with the same favors?
Landscape, Mateo Rotor 9 2022
37. Friendship that we share to others multiplies
our compassion and love where happiness lies.
38. Evil is evil indeed - so with its mirror,
while goodness builds on goodness in store.
39. That others may learn and soon trust you,
show them you're trustworthy, kind and true.
40. Kindness and gladness, these however small
are never, never put to waste at all.
41. Beauty seen once breaks a heart,
Wait for the image to depart.
42. Being right and reasonable;
Black or white, and measurable.
43. She's coy who speaks soft and light;
Smoke first before fire ignites.
44. Every promise you can't keep
Drags you into a deeper pit.
45. To endure pain of hatred,
A leader’s wisdom is dared.
46. Make believe prosperity;
Sound of vessel when empty.
47. Take from the ant or stork,
Patience is silence at work.
48. Good wine grows mellow with age;
Good man grows into a sage.
49. He finds reason for living
Who sees a new beginning.
50. Beauty builds upon beauty,
Ad infinitum to eternity. ~
37. Friendship that we share to others multiplies
our compassion and love where happiness lies.
38. Evil is evil indeed - so with its mirror,
while goodness builds on goodness in store.
39. That others may learn and soon trust you,
show them you're trustworthy, kind and true.
40. Kindness and gladness, these however small
are never, never put to waste at all.
41. Beauty seen once breaks a heart,
Wait for the image to depart.
42. Being right and reasonable;
Black or white, and measurable.
43. She's coy who speaks soft and light;
Smoke first before fire ignites.
44. Every promise you can't keep
Drags you into a deeper pit.
45. To endure pain of hatred,
A leader’s wisdom is dared.
46. Make believe prosperity;
Sound of vessel when empty.
47. Take from the ant or stork,
Patience is silence at work.
48. Good wine grows mellow with age;
Good man grows into a sage.
49. He finds reason for living
Who sees a new beginning.
50. Beauty builds upon beauty,
Ad infinitum to eternity. ~
ANNEX A
A Universal Need in Uncertain Times
"The United Nations is the product of hope."
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres
In a world facing growing unrest, widening social divisions, and persistent economic and environmental challenges, the global community continues to seek values that unite rather than divide. Among these, hope stands out as a deeply powerful and universally resonant force. Recognizing this, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 12 July as the International Day of Hope—a day to celebrate and promote hope as a guiding principle for individuals, communities, and nations alike.
This resolution draws upon the enduring values of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which call for peace, dignity, tolerance, and shared progress. It builds on earlier UN initiatives—such as the International Day of Conscience—by highlighting the essential role hope plays in promoting well-being, mutual respect, social stability, and sustainable development.
The declaration of the International Day of Hope is more than symbolic—it is a global invitation to act. It calls on Member States, regional and international bodies, civil society, and individuals to cultivate environments where hope can thrive. These efforts may include public education, awareness campaigns, community outreach, acts of kindness, and the promotion of forgiveness and reconciliation. By embracing these values, societies can foster inclusion, empathy, and resilience.
Ultimately, this day is a reminder that even in difficult times, hope remains a transformative force. It can bridge divides, drive progress, and uplift the human spirit. The International Day of Hope invites all of us to pause, reflect, and recommit to a future built not on despair or division, but on shared humanity and the unwavering belief in a better tomorrow.
This resolution draws upon the enduring values of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which call for peace, dignity, tolerance, and shared progress. It builds on earlier UN initiatives—such as the International Day of Conscience—by highlighting the essential role hope plays in promoting well-being, mutual respect, social stability, and sustainable development.
The declaration of the International Day of Hope is more than symbolic—it is a global invitation to act. It calls on Member States, regional and international bodies, civil society, and individuals to cultivate environments where hope can thrive. These efforts may include public education, awareness campaigns, community outreach, acts of kindness, and the promotion of forgiveness and reconciliation. By embracing these values, societies can foster inclusion, empathy, and resilience.
Ultimately, this day is a reminder that even in difficult times, hope remains a transformative force. It can bridge divides, drive progress, and uplift the human spirit. The International Day of Hope invites all of us to pause, reflect, and recommit to a future built not on despair or division, but on shared humanity and the unwavering belief in a better tomorrow.
ANNEX B
Longfellow's Psalm of Life
uplifts the spirit these critical times
Psalm of Life is the perhaps the most significant poem written by The poem is among the world's most quoted and recited pieces of literature; in fact, it is a prayer by and in itself. It speaks of universal values, feelings and compassion, of valor and sacrifice, and of victory over ones own battle.
Henry
From sorrow rises a great triumph, and this is the testimony to greatness - to share not how the world should end, but how it must begin again. Not how one closes himself in, but opens himself to others. Not to "Go Gentle into the Night", but stand sentry to the "Light of Dawn".
Psalm of Life is dedicated to the victims of the current COVID-19 Pandemic crisis.
May we all find comfort, hope, and new meaning of life. Above all unity and harmony, compassion and resolve, as a loving global community. ~
Psalm of Life
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us further than today.
Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no future, how'ver pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act - act in the living present!
Heart within, and Good o'erhead.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. ~
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us further than today.
Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no future, how'ver pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act - act in the living present!
Heart within, and Good o'erhead.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait. ~
Longfellow's Craigie House and study room at Cambridge.
Acknowledgement: Photos from Internet, Wikipedia, Google
* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio738 DZRB AM 8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday
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