Virginia leaders convene for annual prayer breakfast

RICHMOND

The first day of the 2012 General Assembly session dawned early today as Virginia’s leaders and lawmakers gathered to seek full stomachs and spiritual guidance at the 40th annual Commonwealth Prayer Breakfast.

After a meal of eggs, sausage and fruit served in a ballroom at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, speakers offered up prayers for Virginia’s military, families, judges and legislators and asked for wisdom addressing the tasks the assembly will face in the next 60 days, a list that includes key decisions on the future of uranium mining in the state, delivering an on-time budget for the first time in a dozen years, reforming education and fighting over which party will control the Senate.

Keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Virginia, talked about the economic challenges and political divisions plaguing the country and asked those gathered to work together to address those challenges, putting faith, morality and humility first.

“We should aim first and foremost to be men and women of character,” Wolf said.

“If you pray for someone and they pray for you, it is simply impossible to turn on them,” he later added, “and that much easier to work together.”

Democratic Norfolk Sen. Yvonne Miller offered a prayer for the homeless, the unemployed and the incarcerated, as well as for the state’s injured veterans.

In what will be a key session for both Gov. Bob McDonnell’s legacy as governor and his future political aspirations, he opened on a lighter note, loosely quoting Mark Twain and evoking laughter from the sleepy audience.

“The liberty and the prosperity of the people is never safe while Congress or the General Assembly is in session,” he said. “ ... and for the General Assembly, that ends today.”