“The most diverse Governor’s Prayer Breakfast I’ve ever seen.”

    That was the positive and appreciative reaction of Carolyn Fredericks, director of the Modern Maturity Center, where last Thursday more than 600 people from all over the state gathered for the 49th annual breakfast.

    The custom started when Gov. J. Caleb Boggs was about to finish his second term in 1960.

    What made the occasion more diverse than usual, although certainly it has always been well done, was the care to which Gov. Jack Markell’s prayer breakfast committee reached out to so many representatives of the various faith communities in the state.

    Maj. Gen. Francis D. Vavala, head of the Delaware National Guard, chaired the 14-member committee that put the details of the observance together based on the theme of “Service Beyond Self.”

    As someone who has been to most past governor’s prayer breakfasts myself I can easily echo Carolyn’s assessment. The program not only included contributions from the government, schools, religious organizations and others, but featured a the well-written and well-delivered talk by Dr. William J. Johnston, president of Wesley College.

    Picking out highlights of the morning is difficult, and sure to miss giving full credit to someone or some organization, but I think there is no problem in mentioning the impact of the singing of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by the Middletown High School Ensemble Choir.

    When the choir finished the stirring rendition of the song, the entire audience rose as one. It was one of the few authentic spontaneous reactions of an audience I have seen. What often happens when an audience wants to signal special tribute to a performance is that a few people stand up and gradually the reaction becomes universal.

    Not so in this case. The music moved the listeners and they responded immediately.

    Mary and I are thankful we were able to be there, and I am sure many others had the same reaction.

    *****

    Since the annual prayer breakfast attracts so many of the state’s movers and shakers you had to wonder how some of the conversations went.

    Gov. Markell, for instance, sat at a table with former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. Did they swap any of their experiences as the state’s chief executive?

    In the period between the start of breakfast the start of the program, legislators and other elected officials circulated through the room, stopping now and then to chat.

    The governor, for example, at one point stood talking, and looking up, as he and Ed Sutor, easily the tallest man in the big room, exchanged a few words. The odds are very high that the conversation touched on the extent to which the Dover Downs casino operation, which comes under Ed’s responsibilities, will be contributing to the state’s beleaguered finances.

    To the extent that the state’s political situation entered into the flavor of the breakfast, though, it was on a friendly basis that is a hallmark of how the state’s political system works. While there are instances when competing politicians are unfriendly to each other, generally speaking an air of good feeling exists, and of course a prayer breakfast is a natural place for this attitude to be practiced.

    Considering the civility of the breakfast, and with the reasonable expectation that this will be carried over to some extent as the state’s political leaders deal with their challenges, it is regrettable that President Barack Obama reduced what has been a national day of prayer to a written statement. Certainly Washington could use a healthy dose of civility as its political combatants vie for advantage in deciding the nation’s future.

    *****

    In the matter of our nation’s future, I have to admit that I am always disturbed when I see a television ad which touts gold as practically the only way to protect your wealth. When G. Gordon Liddy takes a piece of American paper money and throws it away as not worth having, it strikes me that he is defaming the country. Other gold promoters in ads do much the same thing.

    Individuals will decide various ways in which to protect their assets according to their own situations, and they should. Making light of the nation’s currency bothers me, though.

    Admittedly, we can hope that when all of this financial turmoil is over that the country will be able to operate on a predictable level that is fair to all.

    *****

    While the squirrels in Delaware expect to have bird seed supplied to them, by and large they do not become so used to their patient, if bedeviled, benefactors that they come close to them. Or perhaps it is just that our squirrels recognize they are not altogether appreciated which keeps them at their distance.

    But in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington, D.C., recently I took an early morning walk and when I approached a 7-Eleven a polite squirrel came within a couple of feet and looked up expectantly. I would have given him something if I could have, but since my walk was an early one the 7-Eleven wasn’t open.

    Our son John worked in Washington many years ago and I remember him telling us that when you ate your bagged lunch at a bench on the Mall, squirrels dispensed with politeness and would snatch a piece of food from under your nose if they had a chance.

    But that was in Washington, of course, where such things are perhaps the norm.

*****

    Paul: “Did you hear about how Alphonse got a job as a diesel fitter?”
    Saul: “Is that right?”
    Paul: “Yeah, every day he goes to the ladies’ lingerie department at the department store and looks over the underwear until he finds something nice and he says, ‘Yeah, diesel fitter.’”