IT'S WHAT WE CHOOSE TO EMPHASIZE ...

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on

the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of

compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in

this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it

destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and

places - and there are so many - where people have behaved magnificently,

this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending

this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in

however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future.

The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we

think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us,

is itself a marvelous victory." Howard Zinn

Graffiti art near The Wall - Bethlehem. Photo Chris Kerr