Commentary
The space we leave behind contains ‘us’
February 25, 2026 · 0 Comments
Our time here is limited – we all know that. But we ignore it, hide from it, even believe we’ll go on forever. But the truth hurts. If you’ve ever had a handful of fine beach sand and let it run through your fingers, you have an analogy of our lives. We are one of those grains. Millions slip through our fingers, ending up back where they came from, where they belong. We can mold them, step on them, wet them down but they don’t change, break or disintegrate. They simply are.
Fees, charges, red tape tangle us all
It’s been suggested that taxpayers shouldn’t have to wait in line or on hold, simply to untangle bureaucratic red tape. And we shouldn’t have to pay for it, either. While technology has opened up avenues to contact various officials and agencies, I think there’s some unseen noodle-like network where individual requests go to die.
Are people in our lives by chance or design?
I’ve often wondered about just how and why certain people end up in our lives, or become a few paragraphs in our personal storybook. Sure, our work and social circles bring us into contact with literally hundreds of souls. But we don’t click with each and every one. We aren’t drawn, like electricity, to everyone’s heart and soul. And yet, we find them, or they find us.
Bending the truth is part of democratic politics
My son recently asked me why politicians aren’t punished for lying. That should be against the law, he argued. I puzzled and puzzled until my puzzler was sore. “Well, you see, er, well, there are different kinds of lying … Um, white lies, bold-faced lies, bendies, stretchies …” I uttered.
Shedding the building blocks of life in our tears
Are the tears that roll down my cheeks when I’m alone filled with all that I am? Do such small things contain all of my memories and bits of pieces of my life?
Allowing the erosion of our civil liberties
Most of us skip along merrily in our daily lives, enjoying the rights and freedoms granted to us in this beautiful country of ours. We are a multi-cultural mosaic – a welcoming, giving, embracing society. We also cherish, and extend basic human rights, to all who’ve been denied them. We are activists, lobbyists, environmentalists, and community role models. We care about our neighbours.
Numbers and stats don’t lie – we are all miracles!
We were given the most precious gift of all, through all the odds, twists and turns, global events. We emerged from a loving mother, and hopefully welcomed into a gracious family. We had no choice where, when or to whom we would be gifted. Given the vast array of situations and inequities on this planet, we could have ended up on desert plains, snowy mountains or modern, urban centres.
Searching far and wide for our ‘Place’
I’m exhausted. But not too tired to run up that hill one more time, hand in hand with my “Jill.” But we’d leave our pails – and all that they contain – behind for others to fill. I imagine, once we reach the summit, it opens up to a picture-perfect meadow, with a Disney-esque log cabin, sans dwarves.
Looking for comfort in all kinds of places
We humans need comfort as much as we need food and water. During the holidays, one specific carol extends tidings of “comfort and joy.” Just what is comfort and why is it so import to us humans? A lexicon defines it as “a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint” or “the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress.”
Breaking bread takes on a whole new meaning
God moves in mysterious ways. Even the non-religious types in our midst utter this phrase from time to time. I was reminded of this, and one other indisputable fact – I am not alone. A very nice King couple – Roger and Irene – treated me to a fabulous lunch, simply because they wanted to meet the person who writes about life, and is welcomed into their home every week, via the newspaper. While they had a sense of who I was from reading my columns, they wanted to see what I was really like.
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