[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 89 (Monday, June 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S6049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, offered the following prayer:
  Gracious Lord, we commit this day to making other people happy. So 
often our prayers are for what we need You to do to make us happy. Now 
in this quiet time, inspire us to think imaginatively about how we can 
bring happiness to those with whom we work and those whose friendship 
we enjoy.
  Lord, our tendency is to think of some big, grand thing we could do 
and then because of the immensity of it, we never get it done. Help us 
forgo these grandstanding feats of herosim and do something that simply 
makes life more of a joy to the people in our lives. We want to make 
this a day free of uncreative, unproductive criticism. Today, we will 
not be a nagging, faultfinding source of distress. Whatever we do that 
causes anxiety, help us to change.
  We confess that often it is what we fail to do that causes 
unhappiness. We know people need encouragement and affirmation. Today 
we give up the control we get by withholding the attitude or the words 
of approval not just of what people are tying to do, but what they are 
striving to become. May the end of this day be a time for remembering 
the happy memories we gave others. That's what it's all about, and 
that's what we're going to be about today. In the name of Him who 
called us to serve others. Amen.

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