Local Opinion: All on a beautiful morning

In 1951, songwriter Irving Gordon penned a haunting folk ballad about the American Civil War titled, “Two Brothers.” It is featured at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the Abraham Lincoln attractions. The song tells of two brothers going off to war with one choosing to fight for the North while the other brother decides to fight for the South. It reflects the resulting sorrows of the conflict plus the deep division that occurred in families at that time.

In listening to the song, I found it quite intriguing that while depicting the somber consequence of that war, Gordon abruptly reverses the mood and ends every other stanza with the phrase, “All on a beautiful morning.” On the surface I found that to be totally incongruous with the whole tenor of the ballad, out of place and contradictory. It didn’t make sense to me.

But then in giving it more thought I began to see what Gordon was possibly attempting to do. Mornings have always represented a new beginning, a new day bringing light out of darkness. By injecting the fact that the tragedies of the war were taking place on a beautiful morning, Gordon metaphorically created the idea that out of the darkness of that war a new and more vibrant beginning would take place; a new day would begin.

Today we are in a similar pattern with the darkness of the world’s ills dominating the news: from wars to humanitarian atrocities, with gun violence and climate change, crime and corruption and political erosion. Indeed there is enough of the depressing news to wring the spirit out of any soul. However, like Gordon’s song, there is constantly a beautiful morning that is hovering over us, dictating and moving our lives forward and away from the negativity that seems, at times, to be overwhelming.

This bright new morning comes in the form of the human kindness and the show of love that emanates from the work of people caring about other people. Volunteers stand as an excellent example, freely and selflessly giving of their time and talents in many fields, from hospitals to schools to charities and social service agencies plus many more, all done to better lift up the lives of everyone.

In addition, this show of love for our fellow human includes those many devoted professionals, often underpaid, who spend many hours dedicating themselves to the advancement and welfare of others. Teachers, nurses, first responders, social workers and people in similar positions are among our citizens often giving up their time and time with their families to work towards improving all lives. Then, there are those who sacrifice their lives — police and fire personnel and those in the military — to make us more secure. And people are active in the political arena and have joined clubs and organizations that raise funds for charitable purposes all for the sake of bettering society.

These are but a few examples of ordinary citizens of all ages and walks of life giving of themselves to make life more productive and rewarding for others. They are the many good-hearted people who don’t make the headlines. And this is all taking place because there is this overriding awareness in the human spirit that makes us realize that we, in many ways, are akin to one another, in the simple sense that we are all in this together. And this is that innate impetus that prompts us to get involved, to be a vital part of it all and to make it work because it has to work to foster survival. It all culminates in defeating those negative ills that rise up periodically in an attempt to destroy our trust and faith in one another.

There is hope, and it’s blossoming all on a beautiful morning.