It’s 4:30 a.m. and I cannot sleep. I am too excited. Same thing happened yesterday. I am sitting up in bed in a Comfort Inn in North Bay, Ont. My brother is beside me, also awake. In several hours we will head into Algonquin Park back country for four days in search of brook trout. It is supposed to rain the whole time. And yet, I am still excited.

There is an old joke that asks what the difference is between a liturgist and a terrorist. The punchline: You can negotiate with a terrorist.

Last month’s federal election fell on the eve of the feast of St. Matthew the tax collector. Matthew, of course, was an employee of the Roman occupying forces in Judah, doing the dirty work of taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

“Feelings. Nothing more than feelings.” Thus went the 1970s ballad. As often happens, pop songs contain profound lessons if you take them out of context and give them meanings the songwriter never intended: “Yes, they’re just feelings, and nothing more. Don’t sweat it.”

Is it just me or does anyone else feel deeply uneasy about a minister of the Crown effectively usurping the role of a minister of the Church?

It has been a month that has reminded me of how relentlessly unforgiving the street is to its people. Like a scorned lover, it will try to grasp them from the arms of freedom to ensnare them in their old ways.

I now know of two people who ended their lives through euthanasia. They died in August and September.

Have you heard of “The Warning” (aka “The Illumination of Consciences”)?

At the beginning of the current pandemic, there was much discussion about the need for a new normal to emerge after the crisis. Yet increasingly, old divisions are being exacerbated and the dominance of the rich over the poor is being repeated in new ways. Instead of moving toward a more equitable global sharing of resources, wealthier nations cling to the sad tradition of “me first” in allocating vaccines to battle the coronavirus.

Fear and anger. These are some of the strong emotions many Canadians have experienced in preparing to vote in the Sept. 20 federal election.