that it is, as John Wesley said, a gift that God in his strange way left to
us as his blessing.
May I conclude this message by offering you the warm hospitality of
Maryland and its principal city, Baltimore, and by expressing to you
the wish that you may find peace, happiness, and spiritual elevation
in the days you spend with us in the celebration of the founding of
American Methodism.
REMARKS, PRAYER BREAKFAST
BALTIMORE
June 16, 1966
I have watched with a deep sense of satisfaction the growth of the
prayer breakfast movement in Maryland. I have attended as many of
the breakfasts as a busy schedule would permit, and I can testify per-
sonally as to the enjoyment and the benefits that are to be derived
from them.
As an enthusiastic supporter of prayer breakfasts, then, I was
pleased when Doug Turnbull invited me here this morning to join
with you in rendering our thanks to the Almighty for His blessings
and in petitioning His mercy in our undertakings. Benjamin Franklin,
whose broad genius included a mastery of stagecraft, believed that
whoever brought basic Christianity into government would change the
course of history. His words were: "Who shall introduce into public
affairs the principles of primitive Christianity will revolutionize the
world. " It is to this subject—a return to the fundamental Christian
ideals—that I should like to address myself this morning.
The era in which we live is one of great turbulence and great ten-
sion, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to live in such conditions
without being seriously disturbed by what is happening about us. Many
of the things we think, say and do indicate that we may have forgotten
the paths our forefathers trod in search of a life of freedom, peace and
happiness. The effects upon us of the era in which we live are evident
in the things we value, in the thinking we do, in the manner in
which we view the world, in the purpose or lack of purpose in our
lives, in the kind of gods we serve, in the way we face the peoples of
other nations.
We do not lack bread in America. We do not lack shelter, nor cloth-
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