Speaker Busch again asked me to offer the prayer at the Opening Day of the 90-day legislative session.

This is what I said:

Last fall, I told my mother, who is here today, that I have three objectives in my reelection campaign.

“Win, win, and win,” she quickly responded.

My mother was a Phi Beta Kappa majoring in Government at Smith College. She ran my Election Day operation when I first ran for this House in 1982.

So I don’t often find fault with her political advice.

Yes, each of us wants to win this year. But we want to win for a reason.

To advance a cause that we believe in. A cause that furthers the common good, that uplifts the poor in spirit, that repairs the world.

Two sessions ago, we passed a law that funded extended hours at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore.

Two nights ago, my district colleagues and I planned to visit the branches in our district that now stay open until 8 pm.

One person told us on Facebook: “The Walbrook branch probably saved my life. It gave me a safe place to go when things got a little crazy with the guys I was hanging with.”

Another said: “My sister and I would go to the library several times a week to wait for my father to get off work. That became our social hang out with other kids in the community.”

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, so can the legislative process.

Amen