Mayor awards VFW Honor Guard at annual prayer breakfast

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January typically starts off with a chill, and this year was no different. In Kokomo, it also begins with the traditional Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. Community members gather to pray and eat together, and the mayor recognizes an individual or group for their “Faith in Action.”

“I hope you're ready to pray together with your fellow citizens here in Kokomo,” said Pastor Jeff Russell, who has been involved with the breakfast for nearly its entire run. “We are praying to our God and praying for God's best to be done in our city and through our city, for His good, our good and His glory.”

As those in attendance finished up their breakfast, Russell gave a short message to underscore the importance of living to serve and protecting their health of one’s soul. He related a story about a stream, fed by a mountain spring, flowing from the Alps. He talked about its beauty, and how the villagers and animals relied upon its clear waters.

There was a keeper of the springs who had been hired to tend the water longer ago than anyone could recall. The keeper traveled from spring to spring, clearing debris and ensuring the water remain clear and clean. One year, the town council decided to spend its money on things other than the keeper of the springs. They built roads and offered services and collected taxes.

So, the keeper left his post. Before long, the stream became muddied. It became stagnant in areas, and many of the animals left. The people became ill. They realized that the water was no longer beautiful or clean.

The council reconvened and re-hired the keeper, and after time the stream became clear again. The town realized it needed the stream to survive and prosper.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the stream is your soul, and you are the keeper," said Russell. "Every single one of us in this room matter. The people who have chosen not to come (to the prayer breakfast) who live here matter.

“The most important thing about all of our lives is not what have we done only, but who we are becoming. What's the condition of your soul?”

Mayor Tyler Moore then delivered a proclamation to commemorate the breakfast, exhorting those in attendance to serve and uplift the community through word and deed. After the proclamation, several community members stepped up to offer prayers for different aspects of the community, from government and law enforcement to the military, business and industry, the medical community, schools, churches, families, and children.

The event was capped by the mayor's awarding of the Faith in Action Award, given out each year to an individual or group "that are spiritually driven, or while being spiritually driven, also perform countless and selfless needs to lift up and support our community, especially to those in times of need," said Moore.

This year, the award was given to the VFW Post 1152 Military Rites Team, which attends the breakfast each year to present colors.

"As we all know, this country was founded on faith in God, and we are one nation under God since its inception," said Moore. "There are those that have set aside their needs, their wants, their desires, and sacrificed to assure the freedoms that this country provided.

"And once that time of service is over, that level of service doesn't stop. They continue to serve, to protect God and country. Time and time again, when called upon, they stand alongside families that are grieving, and often do so without recognition, without seeking praise, without seeking any type of thanks, showing service and thanks to the families of fallen veterans to others in the community."

The VFW Post 1152 Honor Guard provides military honors at veterans' funerals, memorial services, and celebrations of life. Their service includes reading eulogies, giving a 21-gun salute, sounding Taps, and presenting the nation's flag.

There are currently about 18 active members of the honor guard, which is made up of all branches of the military service, along with auxiliary and non-military members.