News isn't always the bad kind. Sometimes it can be about healing and reconciliation, complete with pictures. In the case of two veterans of the Vietnam War and ordeal--one Vietnamese, the other Australian--on the 50th anniversary of a bloody battle in that terrible struggle. ("Vietnam allows veterans' visit/ Shift lets Australians mark worst battle's 50th anniversary"--Page 8A, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Aug. 19.) The visit was low-key, but the good news was that it been allowed to take place at all. Read it and take heart, Gentle Reader.
For where there's life, there's hope, even friendship and--more than that--union, justice and confidence. Which is still the state motto of poor drenched Louisiana despite all that has just befallen it. ("Flooding another cross to bear/ But waters also bring unity to violence-hit Baton Rouge--Page 2A, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Aug. 19.) To quote one of the water-soaked residents of the state's capital: "A couple of weeks ago, it seems like everybody was pulling apart. Now it's no black-and-white thing. Everybody's just got to help everybody to come out of this."
From another resident: "We had so much division and hate in this city, but it's kind of a cleansing and a washing and God letting us know that all the things that we are fighting over and that are dividing us, that he's in control of everything." Like suffering, emergencies can make the whole world kin.
And here endeth today's lesson.
Editorial on 08/24/2016