[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, offered the following prayer:
  Dear Father, our lives are polluted with noise. The blaring sounds of 
a noisy society bombard our ears and agitate our souls. The television 
set is seldom turned off. We turn on our car radio at the same time we 
turn the ignition key. Music is piped into everywhere we go, from the 
grocery to the gym. On the streets, horns blare, tires screech, and 
tempers flare. Meanwhile, people around us talk constantly trying to 
find out what they want to say in the welter of words. It's so easy to 
lose the art of being quiet.
  Even in this quiet moment, our minds are racing, our nervous systems 
are on red alert and we're like sprinters waiting for the starter's gun 
to go off. Calm us down, Lord, so we can work creatively today.
  Lord, we hear Your voice saying, ``Peace, be still.'' We want the 
miracle of that stillness and accept it as Your gift. We breathe out 
the tension and breathe in the breath of Your spirit. In this time of 
prayer speak to us the whisper of Your love and assurance, grace, and 
guidance. Get us ready for a day in which we can be still inside while 
living in a noisy world. In the name of our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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