c. 1997 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ A bipartisan crowd of politicians, diplomats, church leaders and other prominent people, including President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, gathered Thursday (Feb. 6) for a morning meal of muffins and morality at the National Prayer Breakfast.
About 4,000 people from six continents filled a Washington hotel ballroom and spilled over into other auxiliary rooms to hear remarks from renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and Clinton, stressing the religious obligation to help the less fortunate and to be more civil in public debates.
Continuing a 45-year tradition, people from a variety of backgrounds _ from prison parolees to the very wealthy _ rose early to dine on fruit, granola and coffee cake, and hear words of inspiration from people known more for political rhetoric.”There is represented here today, truly, a cross-section of our world,”said Rep. Bill Barrett, R-Neb.”Who we are is not the important point. The point is that we all come together to let each other know that we care”and”recognize the reliance that each of us have on divine providence.” In his keynote address, Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, implored his audience to realize that they have only reached their current status through God’s grace.”Except for certain circumstances, things might have been quite different for us,”Carson said.”We need to learn how to be compassionate and how to put ourselves in other people’s places.” Carson, an African-American who gives God and his mother credit for helping him grow from being a poor, Detroit youngster with no interest in learning to a well-known doctor, urged the audience to care about the plight of young, black males.”Some people say, `Well, I’m not a black male, so it does not concern me,'”Carson said.”I beg to differ with you. All of our ancestors came to this country in different boats, but we’re all in the same boat now, and if part of that boat sinks, eventually the rest of it goes down, too.” He also said it was”hogwash”to believe that God should not be spoken of in public.”Don’t ever get too big for God and don’t be ashamed of a relationship with God,”he said.”We’ve got to get it across to our young people that it is OK to be nice to people … to have values and principles in their lives.” Clinton returned to the theme he first expressed in his inaugural address and again in his State of the Union message _ the need to be”repairers of the breach,”a biblical reference to Isaiah 58:12.
He urged the crowd to pull certain people out of the breach _ the poor, people around the world in need of help from the United States, and the cynics among politicians and the press.”Cynicism and all this negative stuff _ it’s just sort of a cheap excuse for not doing your best with your life,”Clinton said.”And it’s not a very pleasant way to live, frankly _ not even any fun.” Clinton asked for prayer for people in public office as well as for all those who have slipped through the cracks.”Remember that in every scripture of every faith, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of admonitions not to forget those among us who are poor,”said Clinton, who signed welfare reform legislation last year that will deny many of the poor government aid.”They (the poor) are no longer entitled to a handout, but they surely deserve _ and we are ordered to give them _ a hand up.” In addition to the remarks by Clinton and Carson, prayer breakfast participants heard scripture readings from House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo. Vice President Gore cited several Bible verses that he related to the recent spate of church arsons and the support given to help the congregations rebuild.”These houses of worship have been lifted back up and the breath of the spirit has been breathed into them,”Gore said.”May the same thing happen to our hurting nation.” After the breakfast, one participant found this year’s event unusual.”Usually, it’s so nondenominational and boiled down,”said Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., a lifelong Southern Baptist.”You just get a feel-good message. But not this time. He (Carson) really acknowledged the absolute importance of God in his life.”
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