PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Kudos to legislative leaders here in Oregon for holding a “Legislative Prayer Breakfast,” the first in six years.

Here’s hoping the Prayer Breakfast becomes a tradition.

I say that because, whatever your religious convictions, it makes good sense to stop the hustle and bustle of politics and pause to express the need for guidance from a higher power.

For me, that higher power is Jesus Christ, with whom you can have a personal relationship, as I do. For others, it may be different. And, to be sure, the Prayer Breakfast had an ecumenical touch of sorts with prayers from a Muslim and a Rabbi.

I say good.

I had the privilege of being asked, albeit in my retirement, to co-host a table at the event. It was an honor to be asked and to comply.

The legislative leaders who deserve praise for resurrecting the Prayer Breakfast are:

• House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland
• House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte
• Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham
• Senator Tim Knopp, R-Bend

Notice the bi-partisan character of the leaders, a fact which sent a solid message that this was not just another political event, but something more solemn and sacred.

On May 25, these legislators and many of their colleagues gathered at the Salem Convention Center for the breakfast event. More than 250 guests were there to support the need for divine guidance.

The keynote speaker for the event was Paul Young, an author who self-published a book in 2007, The Shack, which became a best-seller and was turned into a movie.

The title of the book is a metaphor for “the house you build out of your own pain,” according to Young who appeared at the Prayer Breakfast at the invitation of Representative McLane, a personal friend. Young has told a radio talk show host that The Shack “is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged…the thing where shame or hurt is centered.”

He wrote the book especially for his children, though it obviously has reached many more than just his own family.

In that sense and apart from the spiritual message Young intended, his remarks were especially appropriate for a crowd aware that, only a few blocks east of the Convention Center, legislators were locked in a place “where they were stuck and could get hurt.”

One hopes that, by spending a few minutes in contemplation and prayer, legislators will find a way to stand on their principles, bridge gaps and reach agreement on tough issues without denigrating each other. That would be a sweet taste in today’s politics, which often are based on antagonism and acrimony.

Admittedly, the Prayer Breakfast was an event. But, if the spirit lives on, it could become something more.