Lifestyle

How do we ask something of the God? We pray. Merriam-Webster. com defines prayer as an address (such as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought, and an earnest request or wish. I learned to pray when I was too little to remember when I learned to pray. It feels like I’ve always known I should pray. I’ve always been comfortable talking to God about what I want. I’ve prayed prayers of praise to God for the joys of all creation I get to experience. I’ve prayed prayers of thanks to God for many good things I’ve received. I’ve prayed prayers of lament when I shout out to God that I am unhappy with the way things are turning out.

According to American Legion Adjutant John Jones the proceeds from the Echo American Legion Post 204 chili feed fundraiser held Saturday made over $3,000 for the Echo First Responders. Jones said that they sold out with over 100 meals being served. Jones, front far right, is pictured with the kitchen serving crew at the Echo Community Center where the feed was held. TRUDI SWANSON

Last week, CAIR was thrilled to guest-host (and be soundly beaten at – congrats to winners Craig and Deb) trivia at the Bluenose Gopher. My sock puppet alter ego Jebbie had a lot of unexpected opinions, and – thanks to Nicole Zempel – learned some important facts about the World’s Oldest Rock. We were impressed by the players’ collective knowledge and strong sweater game. Personal highlight: the gentle head-pat Jebbie the sock puppet received from one participant on his way out.

Yellow Medicine East's 2021-22 Triple A Winners are Ean Clarke and Jenna Weir. The Academics, Arts and Athletic Award was established in 1988 by the Minnesota State High School League, and is awarded annually to one boy and one girl from each member school. Jenna is the daughter of Shelly and Rich Weir. She has been in choir and competes in softball and will be made her sixth trip to the State Dance tournament over the weekend. Jenna plans to attend Mitchell Tech to become a Radiology Technician. Ean is the son of Christina and Lynn Clarke. He has been active in band and choir. He has participated throughout his high school career in Cross Country, Basketball and Tennis, where he was a State participant last fall. Ean is undecided as far as college plans. PHOTO SUBMITTED

Doug Bengtson plays Andrew Volstead last week at the Bluenose Gopher Public House open house in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Capper-Volstead Act. MINNESOTA .

Andrew McCrea of the American Countryside Radio show stopped in Granite Falls for the 100th Anniversary of the Cooperative Act. McCrea interviewed locals for an upcoming radio broadcast. He was joined by his wife Paula, and together they talked to Les Bergquist, of the Kiwanis popcorn stand, as well as Tamara Isfeld and Dani Prados of the Granite Falls Area Arts Council CAIR Artist in Residency Program, amongst others. MINNESOTA

Last year’s January column about The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning method of downsizing was one of the most popular in terms of people reaching out to request the author Margareta Magnusson’s summary of the concept. While the name of her book is what initially caught my attention, I realized that the idea of what we have and what we allow to surround us and how it ultimately affects the quality of life had been in the back of my mind for quite a while.

One of the Oxford lexico.com dictionary definitions of justice is "the quality of being fair and reasonable.” In Psalm 99:4, the psalmist wrote, “Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.” The psalmist is telling everyone that God, the Mighty King loves being fair and reasonable. Looking back over the Old Testament, God keeps in relationship with the people even as they continually mess up. Over and over God brings them (the people of Jacob) through their hardships until they are no longer in exile and are able to go back to their homeland. This is God fulfilling the covenant promised to the people and the psalmist of Psalm 99 is proclaiming God’s holy reign, God’s holy justice, and God’s holy favor on the people. And through it all, the psalmist is urging people to worship God.