Ascension Day, Thursday, May 29. The first congregation I served was Ascension in St. Louis. There was a sign over the exit door that we saw each time we went out into the world: "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" (Acts 1:ll) Jesus had ascended; then the disciples, including women, gathered together and prayed. Here is my poinsettia from Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' birth, what we are still enjoying on Ascension day.
King Charles does not ordinarily speak at the opening of the Canadian Parliament. However, King Charles III did make a historic exception and delivered the Speech from the Throne himself this year. This was the first time a monarch had done so since Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. The King's decision to personally deliver the speech was widely viewed as a symbolic show of support for Canada, particularly amidst rising tensions with the United States. King Charles' delivery of the Speech from the Throne in 2025 was a significant event, highlighting Canada's sovereignty and its distinct identity.
On this Memorial Day we spent time walking around Concord Cemetery in Garner Iowa where nine members of my Kloock family are buried, including my mother and father, A.E. Cook. Garner is a lovely little town of 3000 about 1/2 hour from Mason City. The people there held a memorial service in the park. I give thanks for my father's service in World War 1.
Memorial Day: A day to remember and to give thanks for those who have fought and died for our country. This is the 250th anniversary of the Army, the Marines and the Navy. This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. It has been 75 years since the beginning of the Korean War. We remember the courage of those who have served and who serve today, and for their families.
The North Iowa Band Festival is underway! This has been a tradition in Mason City for over about 85 years, stopping only for World War 11 in 1943, 44, and 45. My sister and I watched it when we were in high school. Once 100 bands. Seventy-Six Trombones and Meredith Willson. Here at Prairie Place we are in the middle of things with floats lining up all around us. The parade goes down State Street. It begins with the Mason City High School band.
Storms, so many storms. A tornado ripped through St. Louis. They, like so many places need help from FEMA. We lived in St. Louis. The apartment where we lived before we both graduated from Concordia Seminary, was right in the tornado's path. That's the apartment were ll-month-old Mark came to be part of our family. Is the building still there? The Seminary survived. Please call the Congressional switchboard, 202-224-3121 and you will be put through right away to any senator or representative. Leave a message to fully fund the National Weather Service and to NOT cut FEMA.
Speaking of skills. A skill I haven't used in a while is sewing. (Never crocheting or knitting) I have sewed all my life. I have used my mother's sewing basket which is by now 100 years old. I still have a packet of needles from 1957, made in Japan after the U.S. resumed trade with Japan in 1954 in an effort to help rebuilt Japan after WW 11. My mother gave me her Singer sewing machine for a wedding present. I used to sew all my clothes. I sewed clothes for three little boys. I sewed drapes for a parsonage. Even a whole couch! Bolsters, bedspreads. Hems to shorten. Pants to mend. Yesterday I mended some slacks. My fingers can remember old skills. And now in the closet are. . .
Skills I have not learned and don't plan to learn: 1. How to make a habit of lying. 2. How to get others to do things and then take credit for it. 3. Overcount--by a lot--people attending an event and then do what I want and claim "everyone wanted us to do that." 4. How to blame others for everything. What skills do you plan not to learn? I invite you to put your responses in the comments.
A group of South Africans, all white, as arrived in the U.S. There is no basis for calling them refugees. White South African church leaders speak up against Trump's statements about whites. “We make this statement as white South Africans because these claims are being made about us and our experience in this place. The narrative presented by the US government is founded on fabrications, distortions, and outright lies. It does not reflect the reality of our country and, if anything, serves to heighten existing tensions in South Africa,” it said.
“It also detracts from the important work of building safer, healthier communities and addressing the complex history of land dispossession by white Europeans from the Black African majority.”“As followers of the God of life, and of Jesus Christ whose ministry of healing has guided the work of the Church over centuries, we must protest in the strongest possible terms where we see racial politics being weaponized in ways that will contribute to the early death for the poor and vulnerable, while serving the political agendas of the powerful,” it continued.
The Christian leaders noted that South Africa has endured immense violence over generations, continuing even today. However, they said, Trump’s narrative of “disproportionate violence” against white South Africans is in contrast the reality that Black South Africans still face the worst of violence and oppression.
They acknowledged that South Africa “has failed to effectively address the racial injustices of apartheid and colonialism,” but noted that one factor in this “is the sustained resistance by many white South Africans to initiatives that seek to meaningfully address the economic and land ownership consequences of these systems of racial oppression”.
Just to be clear, Pope Leo XIV is the second American Pope. Pope Francis was born in. Argentina, South America. We should not equate the United States with America. Pope Leo is the first pope born in the United States. He served in Peru and has dual citizenship with Peru and the United States. Blessings on Pope Leo XIV as he leads the Roman Catholic Church.
Are your news sources showing you pictures of the over 1400 pro-democracy rallies that have taken place in all 50 states over the past few weeks? There have been 3-5 million participants. This has been non-violent resistance to Trump's policies. Many media outlets show only one here or there where there has been a scuffle. As with the Civil Rights movement, the public needs to see the marchers so that they knew they have a voice and that it is working.
What is VE Day 80th AnniversaryE Day commemoration without any of the royals who stood on the balcony that day, 80 years ago. VE Day was declared on 8 May 1945, after Britain and its allies formally accepted Nazi Germany's surrender after almost six years of war. Four days of celebrations, which have been organized by the government, began on Monday 5 May and will run until Thursday 8 May. I remember VE day. I was 6 1/2 years old on May 6th that year. Even at the young age, we understood what war meant.
North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC), Mason City, is a fine school of about 2500 students today. I, a graduate in 1958, was proud to attend the 2025, graduation of my grandson, Jackson Everist. An excellent place for both of us to begin our higher education. Jackson received his AA degree in humanities in one year with honors (4.0 GPA and Phi Theta Kappa) Jackson's parents, Joel and Rachel, teach at NIACC.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end federal funding of PBS and NPR. He has no authority to so do. Congress does. We need to contact our Congressional delegations to stop Trump. Small towns and cities and metropolitan areas need PBS and NPR for balanced truthful coverage of the news. They also give us local weather forecasts. Some people listen to NPR all day. I trust PBS and watch it every day. We must act.
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