Prayer breakfast at The Great Place brings Soldiers, civilians together for spiritual fitness

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Soldiers and civilians gathered together for a morning of prayer for the Fort Cavazos Prayer Breakfast May 13 at the Phantom Warrior Center.

The annual event has attendees participate in religious reflection over a meal, with prayers from chaplains all over the installation, music, a scripture reading and remarks from a guest speaker, this year being Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, commanding general of III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos.

“We come together, not just as individuals, but as a community found by shared values, service, sacrifice and unwavering support for one another,” said Col. Lakicia Stokes, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander. “This prayer breakfast is a special moment to reflect, express our gratitude and renew our spiritual resilience. It is a time to pray for the sake of those deployed, for strength and comfort for those at home and for unity and wisdom as we navigate the unique challenges of military life together.”

Coming together is important for the Army team.

“(The prayer breakfast) provides that unity, that even though we may come from different religious backgrounds and different faith traditions and different beliefs, we can all come in and center around that one chief commonality that we have, which is there is someone, something — however you choose to define it — bigger than us, and we need to stop and just recognize that and draw on that for our strength,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Michael Hart, deputy garrison chaplain.

In his remarks, Admiral explained spiritual fitness bleeds into Soldier readiness, that having faith can help Soldiers build strong mental foundations.

“Spiritual readiness is the ability to find meaning and overcome challenges by drawing on our values, our beliefs and our ethics, and our spiritual readiness applies to religious and nonreligious Soldiers and families, regardless of philosophy or religion,” he said. “People who invest in their spiritual fitness have a greater chance to weather life’s traumas and even use them as events to improve their lives more than those who don’t believe that they have meaning and purpose.”

Hart agreed.

“… People who invest in their spiritual fitness statistically are just far less likely to self-harm, commit suicide, be engaged in domestic violence or toxic, destructive behaviors,” he said.

Admiral also expressed the importance of faith in finding inner strength to persevere and that chaplains are spiritual leaders, counselors with unwavering commitment to Soldiers’ well-being.

“As the Torah teaches in Proverbs 11:14, ‘Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety,’” Admiral said. “Chaplains are those counsels. They ensure that we do not lose our way in the fog of war. In our world where decisions carry life and death consequences, they remind us of our values, of our humanity and the principles that define us as warriors, reminding us of our higher calling.”

Chaplain (Capt.) Esther Francis, 2nd Chemical Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade, enjoyed the breakfast, saying faith is for everyone.

“This is a wonderful time to share not just with God, but with everyone from different units,” she said. “They’ve all gathered here today to thank God for the great things he’s doing for us here at Fort Cavazos, and we’re also looking forward to the greater things it’s going to do for us this year and beyond. So overall, I’m glad to be part of this team, and I look forward to many more prayer breakfasts of such.”