[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 11, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1000
                              AFTER RECESS

  The recess having expired, the House was called to order by the 
Speaker at 10 a.m.
  The Reverend Dr. Donald F. Christian, Office of the Bishop, 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Washington, DC, offered the 
following prayer.
  Almighty God, You are the giver of all that is good and the provider 
of all that is needed, so we offer our gratitude this day for Your many 
gifts and blessings. For the diversity of Your created order seen all 
about us in the animal, vegetable, and mineral worlds, for the beauty 
of life which can be observed in plants, the places, and the people of 
Your kingdom, our voices join together to proclaim our gratitude. Yet, 
we must also confess that we have sometimes allowed Your gift of 
diversity to divide us and thereby allow animosity, hatred, and even 
bigotry to enter our lives and Your world. We acknowledge, that our 
sometimes frantic activity has permitted us to be less than grateful 
for nature's beauty of color and its symphony of music provided without 
cost to one and all alike. Good Lord, forgive us. So, we begin this 
day, with bowed heads and humble spirits accepting our dependency upon 
You, offering our gratitude for Your kindness, and seeking mercy for 
our shortcomings. Amen.

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