MOUNT VERNON — Water from a faucet. Light from a switch. An answered 911 call. These things are ordinary parts of daily life — until they’re not.
That idea formed the foundation of Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr’s keynote speech at the 2026 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.
Starr centered his remarks on a simple idea, “the strength of a grateful community.”
“There are certain things in life we hardly notice until they’re gone,” Starr said. “We turn on the faucet and we expect water. We flip a switch, and we expect light. We dial 911 and expect someone to answer.”
The things described may seem mundane, but Starr said their value becomes clear when they are no longer guaranteed.
“Most days, we don’t even think about it very much,” he said. “Until the water doesn’t come on. Until the ambulance is coming for us.
“It’s remarkable how quickly something we considered ordinary yesterday can become a blessing today.”
Before Starr’s speech, the 2026 Mount Vernon Chaplains were invited to come up to the front and be celebrated.
Among those celebrated were two new chaplains, Samuel Finneran and Nicholas Myrda. Judge Richard Wetzel took the moment to swear in the men.
‘Forget not’
The annual breakfast gathered community members, first responders, local chaplains, public officials, businesses and others for a morning centered on prayer, service and gratitude.
Throughout his speech, Starr repeatedly returned to a verse from Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
The words “forget not,” Starr said, stood out to him as he prepared his remarks.
“Perhaps he knew something about us because we forget,” Starr said. “Or more precisely, we may remember the wrong things.”
Starr said people can be quick to remember things that have gone wrong, while overlooking blessings around them.
“Perhaps gratitude isn’t primarily learning to feel something,” Starr said. “Perhaps it’s about learning what to remember.”
The idea of remembering became one of the central questions of Starr’s speech.
“What am I in danger of forgetting because something louder has captured my attention?” Starr asked.
Lessons in gratitude
Starr highlighted the account of Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, to illustrate the power of perspective.
In “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Frankl wrote about his experiences in Nazi concentrations camps. Starr spoke about Frankl’s account of prisoners being sent to showers and the relief he felt when he discovered the showerheads actually produced water.
The water hadn’t changed. But his awareness of it had.
Mayor matt starr
“The water hadn’t changed. But his awareness of it had,” Starr said.
Circumstances can shape what people notice, Frankl’s experience show how gratitude can change that perspective.
“Frankl wasn’t writing Christian theology, but his observation points toward something Scripture has taught us for generations … our circumstances do not have to become the master of our souls,” Starr said.
Starr connected that idea to his own experience in public service.
Residents, he said, have every right to question their government, criticize leaders and challenge decisions. But people are generally more likely to speak up when something is wrong than when something is working as it should.
“People generally don’t come to the (city council) microphone to tell us the water came on,” Starr said. “They don’t call my office because their trash was collected. They don’t write an email because a police officer completed a quiet patrol, and nothing happened.”
Those who serve, he said, have to be careful not to mistake the loudest voices for the entire community.
Gratitude becomes service
Starr shared the story of Jesus healing 10 men with leprosy from Luke 17:11-19.
In the passage, all 10 men received the same blessing, but only one returned to Jesus to give thanks.
In reflection of the story, Starr asked those at the breakfast to consider the people and blessings in their own lives that may have become so familiar they are no longer noticed.
“What are you in danger of overlooking because something louder has captured your attention?” Starr asked. “Who are you in danger of overlooking?”
The answer, Starr said, may be a person who has encouraged someone, helped them through a difficult time or simply continued showing up.
“Who’s been giving to you for so long that you stopped recognizing that they’re giving?” He asked. “And have you told them?”
A grateful community
Starr said the acts that strengthen a community aren’t always the ones that receive public recognition.
“Maybe the next act that strengthens this community will never appear in the newspaper,” he said. “It won’t be discussed at a council meeting or in the statehouse. Nobody’s name will appear on a plaque or a proclamation.”
“Maybe it will be simply one person noticing another.”
Starr said gratitude can change the way people see their community.
“A grateful community is strong because it refuses to allow its problems to become its entire identity,” Starr said. “It remembers what is good while working on what is broken.”
A grateful community is strong because it refuses to allow its problems to become its entire identity
mayor matt starr
Starr said gratitude allows people to recognize what is good while continuing to address what needs to change.
At the conclusion of his speech, Starr returned once more to the words of Psalm 103.
“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
Starr challenged those assembled to remember their blessings and grace in their lives, and then to extend that gratitude to others.
“Remember the gift. Remember the person. Remember the grace. Remember the giver,” Starr said. “Give thanks, and then become a reason for someone else to give thanks to God. That is the strength of a grateful community.”
Here are Alexandra Hopkins’ and Cheryl Splain’s photos of the event:
Listen to Mayor Starr’s speech below:
