Jack Layton

I write today with a certain trepidation. I fear that we will end up sounding patronizing, and that is precisely what I do not want. Hopefully I will find the right chord and strike it as intended, true and well intentioned.

We in Michigan in particular and the United States in general do not pay enough attention to our friends in Canada. That is something we must work on, if our long friendship is to deepen further and flower all the more as the future unfolds. What brings this up right now is the death of Canadian politician Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the head of the current opposition in the Canadian Parliament. He died of cancer yesterday at the age of 51, following a significant victory in the most recent Canadian elections which propelled him to what status he had at his death.

But I don't want to make this about his or anybody's politics. Politics pale next to the reality which must be dealt with: a man has died, a fellow human being, who loved and was loved, and cared for by many of his fellow citizens. A man who captured the imagination of many Canadians yet seems destined to a lost legacy.

Lost? Our Canadian Facebook friends repeated many times this wonderful and inspiring quote from Mr. Layton: "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."

If we, all and every one of us, cannot learn from that, cannot glean a very real lesson which if taken to heart would really change the world for the better, then we are cold indeed.

Rest in Peace, Jack Layton, and solace to our Canadian friends.