Jessica is home

For a few days Jessica will be visiting before she embarks on a summer of activities in preparation for entering Duke University the end of July. After graduation ceremonies and attending a cousin's wedding, she and River visited friends in San Antonio, returning to Baton Rouge Sunday, then coming home Wednesday night.  She will have a few days before attending Annual Conference of the Methodist Church beginning Sunday.  She will be an official delegate of University Methodist Church.  She will return to Baton Rouge as youth director intern for the church.

Her summer will be busy as she carries on her job and finds an apartment near Duke and prepares to move there.  She will take time to preach at Christ United Methodist Church on Father's Day.

Runner-up in Rooster fighting

When I was in high school, the state required four years of physical education to graduate, and in grammar school we had periods of supervised physical activity.  One activity I remember was rooster fighting. That involves folding arms across the chest and hitting your opponent with your shoulder.

In a particular class the teacher had us draw two big circles on the ground, one for  the boys and the other for the girls.  It was natural for the largest boys to immediately go at each other.  I used quick movements and trickery and soon we were down to me and another boy.  I let him push me to the edge of  the ring, moved aside and nudged him from the ring, becoming champion.

Oh, but the game wasn't yet over; the teacher matched me against the champion of the girls.  My opponent was a big, busty girl, my head reaching only to her bosom..  She struck me with her shoulder; I moved back, and she hit me again.  I declined to strike her with my shoulder and was quickly pushed out of the ring, leaving her as class champion and me the object of boos and catcalls.

Slype -- wonderful, fun, cruel

Hundreds of miles may separate you but by Skype you can see your grandson Oliver walk across the room at nine months; your granddaughter share a popsickle with her brother, and hear her say I love you.  But you can't hug the children when they open their arms trying to get and give a hug through the screen.  That's the cruelty of communicating by Skype.

Veterans seeking compensation

I would be the last person to oppose a wounded or otherwise needy veteran not receiving deserved compensation, but I find staggering the report that 45 per cent of veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have applied for disability pay.

This far exceeds the percentage of veterans of other wars asking for compensation. That includes the Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea and World War II. There may be several reasons for this,  including the type of war being fought with many servicemen losing limbs, a higher survival rate of wounded, or the bad economy with few jobs available for those with handicaps.

Even so, with almost half of the l.6 million who served in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking compensation for injuries, the funds are getting low and the VA is lagging in meeting claims. 

I think I speak for many World War II veterans who ended the war with eagerness and optimism for the future.  We had survived the depression and the war and were welcomed home with benefits of the GI Bill awaiting us.  Veterans of today may not feel as optimistic about their future. It is our duty to make certain those returning veterans are treated fairly and can be as optimistic about the future as we were.

Remember Memorial Day

Take advantage of this Memorial Day weekend to remember those who gave their lives for this country and the  liberties we take for granted.  Try to find the opportunity to do something kind and helpful to those Gold Star family members.

Although it is not part of the meaning of Memorial Day, it will be good to keep in mind wounded and ill veterans who may be lonely, at home or in a VA hospital, and who will appreciate a visit or even a card letting them know they are not forgotten.

Will newspapers survive?

Or will they join clay tablets on the dust heap of history?  Okay, that is taking too far the response to the announcement that the venerable New Orleans Times-Picayune will go from publishing daily to three times a week.  Founded in 1837, the Picayune has chronicled not only life of New Orleans but has had tremendous influence on Louisiana government and  the state.

As a former newspaperman I am especially sad to see  that  newspapers have come to be a minor player in the presentation of news.  I subscribe to the Shreveport Times out of habit but I spend only a few minutes with it each day and certainly do not get national news from it.  Television  challenged newspapers by being first with news events but papers were relied on for the complete story.  Today, though, any and everybody can go on the internet and become a news source.

I think back to my time at LSU years ago.  The Field House had the Picayune, the Morning Advocate, and other morning papers.  By noon copies of the New Orleans State Times and the Item were available. As LSU fans we had a feast of sports articles to enjoy.  Now,  students turn to the computer and the I-pad for their news.  Change comes and we must adapt, but it still makes me sad to see old friends or old enemies pass away.

Pentecostals and speaking in tongues

Still in Texas but nearing Louisiana we passed a very large church with the sign Pentecostal.  No surprise - along with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, the Pentecostals are one of the fastest  growing religious denominations in America, and they have many churches.

That's not the way it was when I was a youth.  Our community had two churches, Methodist and Baptist. We were Methodists but attended services at both churches.  During the summer Pentecostal groups would usually erect a brush arbor in which to hold a revival of one or two weeks.  Of course, we would attend; how much entertainment did we have in that rural community? I especially remember two services.

This year the arbor was about half a mile down the road from our house.  As soon as the car stopped, Eunice, my older sister, saw a friend,  jumped out of the car and rushed in.  She came back faster than she entered and hit a strand of barbed wire, cutting her leg.  Why her hurry?  Her friend had informed her, " Your dress is inside out."

Another year and another location I saw my first woman preacher and heard  a person speaking in tongues (glossolalia) for the first time.  The preacher walked the aisles and preached and spoke in tongues. Whether there was someone to interpret, as Paul advises, I do not recall.