Spencer played his last soccer game of this year. He scored two goals. He played a little goalie even though they are technically not to play goalie til next year.

The ball is just headed into the net for his first goal.

His teammates celebrate – Spencer is number 4. He improved a great deal this year and he seems to like to play.

The Professor from Vanderbilt was a delightful educator and the “class” was too short!

“If you were Baptists you would be shooting bible verses at me left and right,” he quipped when he asked for some examples of text. But he helped us out with one and then some more came.

He was trying to show the similarities in John 14 and the Hindu text. He wanted us to learn and understand our fellow human beings. He said we were bound to do it. “Love your neighbor” was one “order” and “do not bear false witness” would point us to learning about others so we could understand them and not misinterpret what they are all about.

The verse “no one comes to the Father except…” was brought up and he explained that progressive Christians can accept this and accept that other people can come to “the Father” through other means.

I find it hard to believe that most people can get around this verse and others like it. And other religions also claim they are the only way and even within church groups, the I am right and you are wrong feelings are strong. And why are religions this way? Exclusive, egotistical, unaccepting?

    Mother’s Diary  – June 17, 1948

    We had an unusually good trip from Manson to here in Grandpa’s car. And Dale, surprisingly enough was almost the least trouble. He was intrigued by all the farm animals along the way, indiscriminately labeling everything “horses”

    “Those are sheep, Dale,” I would inform him distinctly and kindly.

    “Oh,” he would say in a surprised and understanding tone, and then determinedly “Horses!”  So I gave up and we had horses the entire trip.

  √

    We stopped in Mitchell for chicken dinner at noon with my sister, Blanche, and her family. Her son, David, is just a year old and I had warned her to get him a suit of armor for protection from his cousin, Dale!

    Dale, of course, is used to playing with older children than he, and we have paid little attention to his manner of playing. So we were looking forward to a visit on Memorial Day from my brother Bill, Ruth and their year old daughter, Jerilyn, especially to see the two babies together. And we were pretty horrified to have Dale start batting Jerilyn around. It wasn’t from naughtiness, we decided, but from sheer, over-whelming out-size. He would make a rush for her with finger out to announce that she was “pretty” and over she’d go. He’d brush past her in his usual impetuous fashion to get somewhere else and over she’s go. She finally started screeching whenever she caught sight of him, but a gazelle might just as well have tried to stand up to an elephant!

    (Ruth has since written that they are now giving Jerilyn boxing lessons in preparedness for their next encounter.)

√

    Anyway, that was why I had warned Blanche in advance. I don’t know what kind of a pep talk they gave to young David, but whatever it was – it was effective. Inside of five minutes after our arrival, there was a minor dispute over a ball, and pint sized David tackled Dale in a surprise attack from the rear, and both went down in a heap on the floor. The ball flew to the corner of the room and the babies screamed. When we had them righted, Dale eyed David with respect and left him alone thereafter.

   .

Clyde Brooks, second from the left,  was 43 years old and had a wife and three daughters and was shipped off to Seattle, WA to serve in the Postal Unit during World War II. His wife and daughters joined him, leaving Watertown, SD and driving to Seattle in 1943. Clyde and his buddies worked part time jobs in order to afford to serve their country in this time of war. They lived in Kirkland and commuted to work in Seattle by ferry boat. They worked on the docks in their spare time.

Go here – So Young.

Type in just the last name Briggs and click on search. Then click on info page and then personal comments.

Then I found Delbert Peterson and Jerry Despard, Manson, Iowa and several college friends including Charles Lane – a day to remember!

There are 58,261 names on the wall – approximately 1200 are MIA/POW – both Delbert and Chuck were MIA.

The Wall.

Our class at church is learning about other religions. This week a professor from the Vanderbilt School of Divinity is speaking. Our assignment was to read the following and then read John 1:1 and John 14.

And, this…

Should be interesting.

Spencer was showing me his Nintendo game but in the back ground Gracie was headed for a fall.

And over she went!

Let’s try it again so I can get a picture of them doing their ‘homework.’

Over again -

Finally – and I’m not quite sure what they were doing with all those books!