In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

President Barack Obama waved as he boarded Air Force One -- a smaller aircraft on this weekend's run because of the region's runways -- at Asheville, N.C., after meeting with the Rev. Billy Graham at his mountaintop cabin, and heading for Beckley, W. Va., for a memorial service for teh 29 miners who died there. (Photo by Alex Brandon / AP) 
  
 by Mark Silva at 9:40 am, updated 2:05 pm EDT 
  
 President Barack Obama, on vacation this weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, made a house call. 
  
 The president went to vist the Rev. Billy Graham at his North Carolna home, a mountaintop log cabin, this afternoon before leaving for a memorial service for the coal miners killed in the recent West Virginia mining disaster. 
  
 Obama and Graham had never met in person before. The White House says the two have long tried to get together, and when they last spoke on the telephone -- when the president called the famed evangelist on his 91st birthday lin November -- they agreed to do so as soon as possible. 
  
 The president left the Grove Park Inn, where he and his family had spent a brief weekend vacation -- the president played golf Saturday morning, and he and First Lady Michelle Obama played tennis this morning -- at 12:16 pm EDT and headed for Graham's house on a beautiful day in the high 60s, a blue sky hoisting fluffy white clouds. 
  
 "Rev. Graham has obviously been an important spiritual leader for past presidents and for the American people for decades," said Bill Burton, a White House spokesman. "He's a real treasure for our country. The president apprecites the opportunity to visit him at his home... ounds like (Graham's health is) pretty good. Sounds like he's got some of the creaks that come with advancing age bu the's still as sharp as he ever was... 
  
 "If's a fair guess that they'll pray together,'' Burton said before the meeting. And pray, they did, Burton said after the meeting, reporting that Obama was extraordinarily gratified to have had the chance for their meeting. It lasted about a half-hour. 
  
 The visit follows close on the heels of the Army last week rescinding an invitation to Graham's son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, to appear at an upcoming National Day of Prayer at the Pentagon because of comments that he has made about Islam. 
  
 "True Islam cannot be practiced in this country," Franklin Graham told CNN's Campbell Brown in December. "You can't beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they've committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries." 
  
 Shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he had called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion." 
  
 Graham, who said a prayer at the inauguration of President George W. Bush, has said he regrets the Army's decision but stands by his comments. 
  
 "I don't like the way they treat women, the way they treat minorities. I just find it horrific. But I love the people of Islam," he said, adding that some of his work has been in Muslim nations. For instance, Samaritan's Purse, the international charity that he heads, works with Iraqi refugees in Jordan. "It's a part of the world I love very much," Graham said. "And I understand it. But I certainly disagree with their teaching." 
  
  
  
  
  
 The Army, which oversees the National Day of Prayer ceremonies, feared that if Graham spoke at the Pentagon, Islamic militants would publicize his comments, potentially fueling tensions in Muslim nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are deployed. 
  
 Concerns about Graham were flagged by the watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which also raised objections that the Pentagon prayer ceremony had become a fundamentalist Christian event. 
  
 The president left the senior Rev. Graham's cabin at 1:16 pm EDT today and headed to the airport for a flight to Beckley, W., Va. People were standing along the route of the motorcade and waving. 
  
 Asked whether the military's decision to rescind an invitation to Graham's son was coming up in today's conversation, Burton suggested that would make the visit awkward. 
  
  ||||| President Barack Obama told the families of 29 miners killed this month that the task for those left behind is “to save lives from being lost in another such tragedy.” 
  
  
  
 Obama, in Beckley, W.Va., on Sunday, delivered the eulogy at a memorial service for the miners killed at the Upper Big Branch Mine earlier this month. 
  
  
  
  
  
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 The president avoided placing blame or discussing policy changes, even as Capitol Hill prepares for hearings on changes to mine safety laws. Obama did, however, repeatedly hinted toward efforts to ensure mine safety remains a priority for his administration."How can we fail them? How can a nation that relies on its miners not do everything in its power to protect them?" Obama said. "How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work; by simply pursuing the American dream?"Obama listed the names of the 29 killed, and he said the nation has "been mourning with you throughout these difficult days.""Our hearts ache," Obama said.The president said that pursuing tougher safety standards is one way he and lawmakers can honor the dead."We cannot bring back the 29 men we lost," Obama said. "They are with the Lord now. Our task, here on Earth, is to save lives from being lost in another such tragedy. To do what must be done, individually and collectively, to assure safe conditions underground. To treat our miners the way they treat each other – like family. For we are all family. We are Americans."The president made these remarks in a state that voted for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential race and that also favored Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary. Obama made the trip after meeting and praying with Rev. Billy Graham in North Carolina, where the president enjoyed a brief vacation.Obama has promised a wide-ranging investigation of the accident, and more broadly said the administration would work with Congress to boost enforcement of laws and reform them. Obama also has said the Labor Department would streamline rules that allow regulators to take action against mines with patterns of safety problems.The president remembered the victims as miners who worked a dangerous job to provide for their families.“All the hard work. All the hardship. All the time spent underground. It was all for their families,” Obama said. “For a car in the driveway. For a roof overhead. For a chance to give their kids opportunities they never knew; and enjoy retirement with their wives. It was all in the hopes of something better. These miners lived – as they died – in pursuit of the American dream.”Obama hailed the community spirit that came together after the tragedy, and he spoke of letters he received from miners and miners' families after the explosion."They ask me to keep our miners in my thoughts," Obama said. "Never forget, they say, miners keep America’s lights on. Then, they make a simple plea: don’t let this happen again."Obama was joined by Vice President Joseph Biden at the service, where the president spoke of the importance of mining in everyday Americans' lives."Day after day, they would burrow into the coal, the fruits of their labor, what we so often take for granted: the electricity that lights up convention centers like this; that lights up our churches and homes, our schools and offices; the energy that powers our country and the world," Obama said.The president was set to return to the White House on Sunday evening. 
  
  
  
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President Obama paid tribute this afternoon to the miners who died in the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, implicitly criticizing the mine-safety system as he celebrated the lives of the 29 men who perished, reports the Hill. "How can we fail them?" he asked. "How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work, by simply pursuing the American dream?" "They are with the Lord now. Our task, here on Earth, is to save lives from being lost in another such tragedy,” the president said, drawing applause. “These miners lived—as they died—in pursuit of the American dream." Earlier, Obama met for the first time with the Rev. Billy Graham. A spokesman said later the president was "extraordinarily gratified" to have the chance to visit 91-year-old evangelist, the Chicago Tribune reports.