The things we leave behind
(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, April 4, 2015)
KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ This is about two friends, two neighbours, some hard math (if not hard truth) and a dead musician.
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suffering
Whispers and shouts
Eliana is the baby that shouldn’t be in this world. The latest is that this little Ugandan girl, about five months old now, is on the cusp of weighing 2.5 kg. It’s a sort of tipping point, doctors believe, and from here it will get much easier for her to put on weight and fight
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Big dogs, trouble, and the Balm of Gilead
It was last evening. “Dad,” she said. “Can I hold the leash?” “No.” “Please,” she said. “No.” Zack, our big-as-a house German Shepherd, has been a little disobedient on his walks lately, chasing the monkeys and whatnot. Liz wouldn’t be able to hold him. “Zack has given even Mum a hard time lately,” I said. “You
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“If you can’t feel, what’s the point?”
“Daddy, it’s The Giver!” Liz said when we found the DVD for a thousand shillings, about 40 Canadian cents, at a hole-in-the-wall movie stand across the road from the edge of the university. At home, we saw it even worked, never a guarantee with these sorts of Ugandan movie outlets. For those not familiar with
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One day, my story could be yours
(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, February 21, 2015)
KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ He was Swiss and we were talking over coffee and he said he’d just read my story about Canada’s new look at assisted suicide. He spoke as if I’d written on this, which I had not, or maybe he called it my story simply because I’m Canadian.
He said he didn’t know what all the fuss was about. Europe, after all, liberated itself from any shameful baggage on assisted suicide long ago. If you want to die, he explained, you can easily go to places and doctors for help.
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The Nature of Peace – Complete address
In November 2014 I returned from my African home to speak at the Hamilton Convention Centre on the theme of The Nature of Peace. This was on the invitation of the YMCA of Hamilton-Burlington-Brantford, which holds an annual Peace Medal Breakfast to honour the people of Hamilton region who work towards peace. Following is
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The Nature of Peace – 6 – Breaking and suffering
This is the sixth and final excerpt from an address I gave in Hamilton, Canada in November 2014 on the Nature of Peace. Excerpt #1 is here and #2 is here and #3 is here and #4 is here and #5 is here. + This is what the nature of peace is like. It’s a long, hard journey. Peace is a marathon.
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Cradle-to-grave without free choice
(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, January 24, 2015)
KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ He goes by a false name so he’s not found and killed. I just met him. I’ll call him Ahmed in this, his story. He recently shared it around our dinner table.
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