REGION : Baker Stresses Faith, Not Power

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State James A. Baker III said today that after nine years close to Washington’s power center, he has found that “power doesn’t really bring the fulfillment that many think it does.”

Baker told a roomful of politicians and diplomats at the annual National Prayer Breakfast that “inner security and true, real fulfillment comes by faith. It doesn’t come by wielding power in a town where power is king.”

Baker said he used to think that being a success meant never admitting hurt or problems, but that changed several years ago. He said that at that time he was having a particularly difficult problem and that his wife, Susan, helped him pray and see that “I really needed to stop trying to play God and turn the matter over to faith.”