At school I was told that before the advent of radio and television, the great novelists such as Charles Dickens would write their books to be read around the fireplace in the evening. In so doing they would make their chapters short enough for an evening’s read and closed with a cliff-hanger.

Well done, Knights

Kudos  to the Knights of Columbus of Holy Cross Parish in Burnaby, B.C., for going ahead with their bicycle drive, Bicycles for Humanity, despite three partners suddenly pulling out, citing differences of opinion on LGBTQ issues. The Knights collect donated bikes and ship them in large containers to Africa where the poor can use them as inexpensive modes of transportation.

There is a world of issues to worry about these days, playing havoc with our physical and spiritual well-being. So it’s good every once in a while to stop and, as the cliché goes, smell the roses.

The Chinese government has unjustly imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The “Two Michaels” are innocent pawns in a high-stakes game China is playing with Canada to secure the release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies.

Anniversaries remind us to learn the lessons of history and, for a Christian disciple, to remember the workings of Providence.

Deep into ESPN’s irresistible documentary The Last Dance, rumination turns to the specific qualities that catalyzed Michael Jordan’s leadership of six NBA championship teams between 1991 and 1998.

The killing of George Floyd by a police officer and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement to end white supremacy and systemic racism led me to reflect on an early memory I have from my journey of work towards being an anti-racist Catholic.

Unjust killing

Re: Bishops join forces condemning racism (June 21):

I take offence at Archbishop Donald Bolen comparing the alleged murder of George Floyd to the passion and crucifixion of Jesus.

The funeral will be held at a future date.

It wasn’t so long ago that many of us were using the COVID-19 virus to argue that our world was more interconnected than we care to admit. Divisions are commonplace and people move through their lives erecting barriers between the haves and have-nots, between the East and the West, between the good and the bad.