Although other speakers touched briefly upon the events unfolding in Ferguson, keynote speaker Donald Claycomb's remarks hewed closer to a homily on the value of community service at the 35th Annual Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce prayer breakfast held Wednesday.
Quoting country singer Jimmy Dickens, Claycomb, said: "If you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you know he had help getting there."
Claycomb, who serves as president of the State Technical College of Missouri, asked people to consider what causes them to feel thankful. He remarked the people gathered for the breakfast - including many civic leaders - are a "blessed group" who have been given many opportunities.
Two organizations, 4-H and FFA, shaped his personal philosophy as a younger person, he said.
"I had the good fortune of being a 4-H member for 11 years. And I began my professional career as an FFA adviser," he said.
Quoting the 4-H pledge, Claycomb recited: "I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living - for my club, my community, my country and my world." And he noted the club's motto reminds participants to "make the best, better."
The FFA motto encourages listeners to succeed with the following maxim: "Learning to do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live and Living to Serve."
"Today our society needs values like these just as much as it did in the 1910s and 1920s. Maybe more so," he said. "We also need the gift of wisdom as we deal with the many values-challenges facing our society today."
"We are a privileged group of people in this room. As such, we have a responsibility to promote values," he exhorted.
"Each of us could do more, and let's not apologize as we do it," he said, noting that values - such as the ones embodied by the 4-H and FFA mottoes and pledges - are "just too critical" to the nation's future, not to foster.
He added almost everyone has the opportunity to help others. And his own opportunities in life have far exceeded anything he dreamed of as a young 4-H participant decades ago.
"Perhaps we start with ourselves," he said and exhorted listeners to craft their own personal value statements.
"For content, we don't have to go far. It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be high-tech. Simple words from the eras of our parents and grandparents will do," he suggested.
He concluded, as people contemplate what it takes to serve their communities, their approaches might be different, depending on which faith inspires them and which youth organization they decided to become involved in.
"Let's respect that our life experiences may have taken different approaches from those sitting around us. Yet, we have arrived at the same place today, when it comes to values," he said.
In his invocation, Pastor Pieter Van Waarde from Woodcrest Chapel said, "Our hearts are heavy today." He said events like the unrest in Ferguson, create the illusion - because of the attention they garner - that nothing else matters and everything is broken.
"Without taking anything away from the suffering, we can remind ourselves that we still have a reason for thanksgiving ... in our deliberate and sincere giving of thanks, we find perspective and hope," he said.
Sen. Mike Kehoe, who was born and raised in north St. Louis, reassured listeners the state is working to calm the unrest.
"It will work out," he said. "I believe in this country. I believe in this process. And people have the right to air their concerns," he said. "We have some great men and women on the front lines who will do a great job. I ask you to keep them in your prayers. They are away from their families."
The event concluded with music by the Marks Family, a gospel group that sang hymns such as Amazing Grace and the National Anthem.