Yesterday I received the picture below from a new Boston resident walking around town exploring the Commons. The plaque was placed in 1959.
It reads in part, Edward Filene (1860-1937): author, scholar, outstanding citizen of Boston and public benefactor. Acknowledged as the founder of the credit union movement in the United States.
Great leaders require two defining characteristics: vision and optimism. Together they produce hope.
Two Expressions of Hope
From Emily Dickenson:
“Hope is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without words –
And never stops – at all …
Carl Sandburg in the midst of the Great Depression wrote of hope in the commonplace scenes of life-1936:
Hope Is a Tattered Flag
Hope is a tattered flag and a dream of time.
Hope is a heartspun word, the rainbow, the shadblow in white
The evening star inviolable over the coal mines,
The shimmer of northern lights across a bitter winter night,
The blue hills beyond the smoke of the steel works,
The birds who go on singing to their mates in peace, war, peace,
The ten-cent crocus bulb blooming in a used-car salesroom,
The horseshoe over the door, the luckpiece in the pocket,
The kiss and the comforting laugh and resolve—
Hope is an echo, hope ties itself yonder, yonder.
The spring grass showing itself where least expected,
The rolling fluff of white clouds on a changeable sky.
Have a hope-filled weeken