Hamilton Spectator Archives – Page 23 of 42

How a world with assisted suicide would look

3 Comments / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / February 1, 2016 / 2016, death, doctor-assisted suicide, human rights, suffering, The Giver / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Monday, February 1, 2016)

It’s 2049 and I’m an old man. I’ve made my decision. (At least I thought I made it.) It’s for release.

I’ve been given a choice in a pleasant manner for an injection or capsules. Soon this will all be over, another release into elsewhere, into eternity.

They’re out there, opinion polls on this procedure, on “release,” what in your day was called “doctor-assisted suicide.” Apparently most people are in favour. You have to wonder, though, about the questions.

How a world with assisted suicide would look Read More »

No matter how desperate, we are not alone in this world

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / January 4, 2016 / 2016, African culture, Christmas, home, lost children, poverty, refugees, the road / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Monday, January 4, 2016)

MUKONO, UGANDA ✦ It was evening and dark and dozens of voices, mostly African, by candlelight and under bright stars, were singing carols in front of our long-time East African home.

It was a moment to reflect on the days ending 2015, and a moment, also, when I was asked to say a word.

“So where does everyone go at Christmas?” I asked the kids more than anyone.

“Home!” they yelled into the night air.

No matter how desperate, we are not alone in this world Read More »

The spirited ways of Pope Francis

1 Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / December 5, 2015 / 2015, African culture, Christianity, Pope Francis, Pope Francis in Africa, poverty, spirituality / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, December 5, 2015)

KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ I am not Catholic.

And, like you, I have my images of fatherhood.

The better ones have more to do with the holiness of, say, my boy with a ball and a catching glove on our sun-filled front lawn than with the Holy Father coming to visit.

The spirited ways of Pope Francis Read More »

The winds of political change blowing hard

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / November 7, 2015 / 2015, Istanbul, journalism, travel, Turkey, Turkish politics / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, November 7, 2015)

ISTANBUL, Turkey ✦ This starts in Hamilton where I was driving to my local polling station amidst dead leaves blowing everywhere, as hard as the winds of political change.

It was the first time in 14 years I was around in the fall to see the trees lose their lifeblood, a moment in time, even as we all, after our simple X on a paper put in a cardboard box, watched change blow into Ottawa.

The winds of political change blowing hard Read More »

Life is in the small pleasures, the simple moments

2 Comments / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / September 26, 2015 / 2015, dogs, dogs in Africa, faithfulness, family life, German Shepherds, pets, small pleasures, the good life / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator, Saturday, September 26, 2015)

MUKONO, UGANDA ✦ Our dog, Zak, is a fine-looking German shepherd with a deep bark and a good name. (I mean, if your name is all you can ever fully own, surely that’s true for dogs too.)

He’s wary of strangers and, I suspect, would give his life if called to. He has a funny relationship with his food, never uses his doghouse, (preferring our back door), and loves rolling in the morning dew.

Life is in the small pleasures, the simple moments Read More »

Of lions, children and innocence of lives given

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / September 4, 2015 / 2015, Aslan, Baraah Fakierah Foundation, Cecil the lion, Chronicles of Narnia, eucastrophe, lions, suffering, war children, Yemen, Yemen’s civil war / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, August 29, 2015)

HAMILTON, CANADA ✦ If you were a lion you’d have little in common with any little girl, unless it’s the summer of 2015 when you could both die horrible deaths on the other side of the ocean and people on this side would know.

Of lions, children and innocence of lives given Read More »

(I’m 50 now.) Inline skates? Yes. Smartphone? No.

1 Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / July 25, 2015 / 2015, anxiety, birthdays, distraction, Hamilton's bayfront, inline skating, longevity, smart-phones, turning 50 / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, July 25, 2015)

HAMILTON, CANADA ✦ The last time I peed in a bottle, my doctor looked it over, then looked me over, took my blood pressure and finally said, “Good God, man! How in the world do you manage to do it?”

He told me that he thought I’d live to be 100, and then, if I remember correctly, (which I don’t always, anymore), he said something about putting a large poster of me in his clinic (or was it on the front of the building?) to encourage others of my, uh, vintage. I think that’s what he said, anyway.

(I’m 50 now.) Inline skates? Yes. Smartphone? No. Read More »

O Canada, Hannah stands on guard for thee

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / June 30, 2015 / 2015, adoption, African adoption, Canada, Canada Day, Canadian citizenship, Canadian history, Froese biography, meaning of name Canada, The Canadian train, travel / 4 minutes of reading

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, June 27, 2015)

HAMILTON, CANADA ✦ My youngest daughter, Hannah, is a cool girl who loves water, makes friends easily and puts lots of maple syrup on her pancakes. She laughs more than I do, often from a deep and hearty place.

She likes the fact that her name – which in the original Hebrew means “gracious” or “God’s gift to the world” – is spelled the same forwards and back.

Canada is cool too. It makes fine maple syrup and, as far as countries go, laughs more than many.

O Canada, Hannah stands on guard for thee Read More »