By Hyon O'Brien
The other day, while I was driving to do some errands, the car radio played "You'll Never Walk Alone," the well-known show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel," more recently sung by Andrea Bocelli. I saw Bocelli on stage last year in Miami and am a great fan. Perhaps that's why I paid closer attention to the lyrics. This persuasive chant, designed to lift up the soul lost in despair, has a lingering power:
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone
I can understand why in 2001 Barbara Streisand performed this song at the close of the Emmy Awards in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City, where around 3,000 innocent people were killed by a horrific and evil terrorist act.
I can understand why these days this song is being used frequently in support of frontline health care workers and to encourage people suffering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 20, Dutch radio DJ Sander Hogendoorn called on radio stations throughout the Netherlands to air the song simultaneously to support people affected by the coronavirus. Stations from other European countries joined him; a total of 183 radio stations throughout Europe played "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a gesture of solidarity ― we are not alone, we are a community.
In our life journey, we face many unpredictable calamities, troubles and natural disasters. But COVID-19 exceeds other recent world problems in its scale and scope. It has affected, in large ways, nearly all 8 billion people on Earth. The physical separation from loved ones, the closure of gathering places, the limitation of movements and travel, and the constant increase in deaths, all lower our spirits and bring to the surface sadness, depression, anxiety and panic. Precisely because of these circumstances, this song "You'll Never Walk Alone" serves as a powerful reminder of the power of community. We fall apart if we think we are in this alone. Let's not lose hope. This too shall pass. Vaccines will be perfected and we can beat COVID-19 as we did with polio.
To help you deal with this global pandemic that's been weighing down on us for far too many months, I want to put on my librarian hat and recommend some books and a documentary:
"Mountains beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World" (2003) is a biography by American writer Tracy Kidder. In the book we follow the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer with particular focus on his work fighting tuberculosis in Haiti, Peru and Russia. Farmer grew up as one of six children in a poor household in a refitted bus in Florida. It is a miracle that he was able to rise up from his poor beginnings and to earn his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard. Farmer created Partners in Health, an organization to help fund medical expenses for the poorest of the poor. Reading the story, I couldn't but tear up at Dr. Farmer's saintliness. One night in Haiti, Farmer walked through the mountain jungle in the dark for hours just to reach one indigent patient who lived in a remote place. For Farmer, it was important to let his patient know that he was not alone as he battled for his life. Farmer's true compassion shines on every page.
"A Gentleman in Moscow" is a 2016 novel by Amor Towels. In the 1920s, Count Rostov was sentenced by a Bolshevik tribunal to house arrest at the Hotel Metropol in the center of Moscow. The story follows the Count through decades at the hotel, introducing the friends he makes and the memories he accumulates in his relationship with people inside the hotel. Despite his situation, he maintains his connection?to humanity, even becoming a surrogate father to an orphan. It is an uplifting story, beautifully told.
"Educated" is a memoir by Tara Westover, who grew up with no formal education. It follows her journey from rural Idaho to the Ph.D. program at Cambridge University as she struggles against her family's isolationist religious beliefs. With the help of a couple of her brothers, she fights for her education, learning along the way that to be educated is to learn much more about the world than what's contained in books. Her courage and self-realization is inspiring.
In other media, "A Life on Our Planet" is a recent documentary by the famed naturalist, David Attenborough (a very young 93), who warns us how steeply the planet's biodiversity has diminished over his lifetime and grieves over the loss of the Earth's wild places. He offers a vision for the future if only we all come together and act to implement the solutions that are within reach. This should be required viewing for all 8 billion people living on this Earth.
I will end with my favorite verse from the prophet Isaiah (40:31): "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Hyon O'Brien (hyonobrien@gmail.com) is a former reference librarian now living in the United States.
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Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone
I can understand why in 2001 Barbara Streisand performed this song at the close of the Emmy Awards in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City, where around 3,000 innocent people were killed by a horrific and evil terrorist act.
I can understand why these days this song is being used frequently in support of frontline health care workers and to encourage people suffering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 20, Dutch radio DJ Sander Hogendoorn called on radio stations throughout the Netherlands to air the song simultaneously to support people affected by the coronavirus. Stations from other European countries joined him; a total of 183 radio stations throughout Europe played "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a gesture of solidarity ― we are not alone, we are a community.
In our life journey, we face many unpredictable calamities, troubles and natural disasters. But COVID-19 exceeds other recent world problems in its scale and scope. It has affected, in large ways, nearly all 8 billion people on Earth. The physical separation from loved ones, the closure of gathering places, the limitation of movements and travel, and the constant increase in deaths, all lower our spirits and bring to the surface sadness, depression, anxiety and panic. Precisely because of these circumstances, this song "You'll Never Walk Alone" serves as a powerful reminder of the power of community. We fall apart if we think we are in this alone. Let's not lose hope. This too shall pass. Vaccines will be perfected and we can beat COVID-19 as we did with polio.
To help you deal with this global pandemic that's been weighing down on us for far too many months, I want to put on my librarian hat and recommend some books and a documentary:
"Mountains beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World" (2003) is a biography by American writer Tracy Kidder. In the book we follow the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer with particular focus on his work fighting tuberculosis in Haiti, Peru and Russia. Farmer grew up as one of six children in a poor household in a refitted bus in Florida. It is a miracle that he was able to rise up from his poor beginnings and to earn his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard. Farmer created Partners in Health, an organization to help fund medical expenses for the poorest of the poor. Reading the story, I couldn't but tear up at Dr. Farmer's saintliness. One night in Haiti, Farmer walked through the mountain jungle in the dark for hours just to reach one indigent patient who lived in a remote place. For Farmer, it was important to let his patient know that he was not alone as he battled for his life. Farmer's true compassion shines on every page.
"A Gentleman in Moscow" is a 2016 novel by Amor Towels. In the 1920s, Count Rostov was sentenced by a Bolshevik tribunal to house arrest at the Hotel Metropol in the center of Moscow. The story follows the Count through decades at the hotel, introducing the friends he makes and the memories he accumulates in his relationship with people inside the hotel. Despite his situation, he maintains his connection?to humanity, even becoming a surrogate father to an orphan. It is an uplifting story, beautifully told.
"Educated" is a memoir by Tara Westover, who grew up with no formal education. It follows her journey from rural Idaho to the Ph.D. program at Cambridge University as she struggles against her family's isolationist religious beliefs. With the help of a couple of her brothers, she fights for her education, learning along the way that to be educated is to learn much more about the world than what's contained in books. Her courage and self-realization is inspiring.
In other media, "A Life on Our Planet" is a recent documentary by the famed naturalist, David Attenborough (a very young 93), who warns us how steeply the planet's biodiversity has diminished over his lifetime and grieves over the loss of the Earth's wild places. He offers a vision for the future if only we all come together and act to implement the solutions that are within reach. This should be required viewing for all 8 billion people living on this Earth.
I will end with my favorite verse from the prophet Isaiah (40:31): "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Hyon O'Brien (hyonobrien@gmail.com) is a former reference librarian now living in the United States.
