Opinion

Deep winter. Short days, cool weather. I confess that I need to consult the calendar and give some thought to exactly what day it is. This is the time of year gardeners like to dream of spring, what new kinds of tasty fruits they would like to plant this growing season and, perhaps, an apple that keeps really well. Two new varieties are Nicola and Aurora Golden Gala. Or a different coloured pear, perhaps a red Bartlett.

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

This year has not had an auspicious start. The news has been hijacked by stories of misery, death and destruction on a global scale. We have seen desolation and despair etched on the faces of young and old, black and white, rich and poor.

Universal public medicare is one of the defining aspects of being Canadian. It wasn’t an easily won battle to get coverage for all of us, but Tommy Douglas took up the charge because he believed that everyone matters. Now, he’s considered to be the greatest Canadian for doing so.

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

All human lives contain both fortunate and unfortunate events. When misfortune appears, it presents us with a wonderful opportunity to exercise the spiritual muscles that meditation and the practice of moral precepts have developed. When events and people don’t act as we want them to, it’s easy to think that they have become obstacles to our happiness. At these times, training for enlightenment is usually the last thing on our minds.

In the aftermath of yet another round of deaths and injuries caused by a gunman in the U.S., one is left to wonder if there really is any hope for a new era of civility and rational behaviour in a rapidly declining society.