Prayer breakfast offers chance to face winter, fear together

While spring, summer and fall offer people different signs of hope, life and happiness, winter ushers in images of gloominess, cold and, above all, death, said Chaplain (Col.) Douglas Kinder, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 4 in the Kaiserslautern Community Activity Center.

“You are in the minority,” Colonel Kinder said joking while addressing the audience. “Winter is evil.”

The National Prayer Breakfast began in Washington in 1953 and has continued to grow with each passing year, said Mary Himic, U.S. Kaiserslautern deputy to the garrison commander, who opened the event with welcome remarks.

“Our National Prayer Breakfast has grown to almost become a world prayer breakfast,” Mrs. Himic said, noting that the event takes places in communities and countries around the globe. “So I think it’s important that we come together as a community here in Kaiserslautern.”

Colonel Kinder, the Installation Management Command-Europe chaplain, entertained and inspired his audience with jokes, stories and anecdotes revolving around what he called the most frequent command in the Bible.

“You should not fear,” he said, before explaining the difference between a good fear that can motivate and a fear that hinders progress.

“It’s about mindset,” he said, urging his listeners to allow joy into their lives by dealing appropriately with fears. “Have you ever known a fearful joyful person?”