PRAYER, FRIENDSHIP, DRUG DEATHS AND CAP'N CRUNCH

About 1,400 men and women gathered at the Show Me Center Thursday morning to break bread, pray and listen to the testimonial of nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. The event was organized by the Cape Girardeau Christian Businessmen's Committee and the mayors of Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Thomas' words were reported extensively in this paper Friday, but his message that a personal relationship with God is more important than any vain pursuit of the American dream can not be repeated too often.

"I used to be deeply religious," Thomas told the crowd, "but now I love Christ." The distinction Thomas makes in these words is a profound one, worth pondering by all of us.

The columnist was not the only one who spoke at the breakfast. The respective mayors of Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Gene Rhodes and Paul Sanders, welcomed all to the event, stressing the goodness of setting aside smaller matters to contemplate the greatest. Congressman Bill Emerson, a past chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., told about the faithful members of the U.S. House of Representatives who meet alongside him on Thursday mornings to pray and talk about the message of the Bible. And Dr. Bill Terry, who deserves special acknowledgement for the organization of the event each year, served as master of ceremonies with humor and grace.

"America's primary problems are not economical and political, they're moral and spiritual," Thomas said in his speech.

It is reassuring to know that in this era so often punctuated by violence, hate and moral ambiguity, the word of God, and its truth, still lives among us.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club, a service organization which works for community betterment, as well as international peace and understanding. On Feb. 10, Clifford L. Dochterman, president in 1992-93 of Rotary International, was the keynote speaker at banquets here celebrating the local founding.

"For 75 years the Rotary Club in Cape Girardeau has been getting together to make things better," Dochtermann said. "When you want something done, generally you call a friend. Rotary members work together to build fellowship and friendship, the first step towards building a community."

Over the years, the club has been active in the development of parks, a historical marker program, the Municipal Band and the Boy Scouts. It has conducted war bonds drives, funded scholarships and even mailed vegetable seeds to India. Last summer, among other projects, it was involved heavily with flood relief.

The Rotary Club's good deeds are not contained to Cape Girardeau. International exchanges are a hallmark of its activities, helping to bridge the distance between different peoples and cultures. We thank the organization for its contributions to this area and wish it continued success.

On a more depressing note, three people working at a convenience store were bludgeoned to death near the University of Missouri campus in Columbia last Saturday night. Why? The alleged killer, a parolee from prison, needed money to buy crack cocaine.

He was connected to the crime by his blood-drenched clothes, found discarded in a field and stuffed in a trash bag in a park.

Elsewhere on this page, Lakota Douglas, a student at Southeast Missouri State University and the founder of Missouri's branch of Help End Marijuana Prohibition, takes this newspaper to task for writing about "the scourge of crack cocaine." She suggests that drug users are not the enemy.

Tell that to the three people who who are now dead, Ms. Douglas, and to their families, and to the hundreds of thousands of others who are the victims of drugs like crack cocaine. Arguing for the industrial and medicinal uses of hemp may be one thing, but serving as apologist for crack is entirely another.

Finally, summer Olympics come to the Show Me center this weekend. Well, sort of. It's the Cap'n Crunch Invitational gymnastics meet, which promises to display some of the best in women's collegiate vaulting, parallel bars, floor exercise and balance beam. In the past, big crowds have turned out to watch coach Bill Hopkins' Otahkians at this event, and the support has helped the Southeast squad score several impressive victories.

Although the Otahians have suffered through some injuries this year, Coach Hopkins expects them to be in top form this weekend. The invitational begins at 2 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Be sure to wear your Southeast colors.