[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, offered the following prayer:
  Father, You always are right, just, and fair. Your fairness is the 
result of Your righteousness and justice. Today, we pray for the 
character pillar of fairness, of fairness for our own lives. Help us to 
play by Your rules of absolute honesty, purity, and love. We not only 
want to do to others what we would want them to do to us, but we want 
to treat others as You have treated us.
  Thank You that we have Your commandments and Your truth in the Bible 
as our guide. You have taught us not only to meet but to go beyond the 
just standard. May we be distinguished for our generosity in exceeding 
what is expected.
  May our expression of the character trait of fairness also include 
our judgments of other people and what we say about them. Forgive us 
when our evaluations of people are polluted by pride, envy, or 
competitiveness. Remind us of the power of words to assassinate other 
people's characters. When we can say nothing positive, may we say 
nothing.
  Lord, You know the strength of this pillar of character called 
fairness. It is tested when people are unfair in what they say about us 
or are unfair in their dealings with us. Our temptation is to 
retaliate, but we know that resentment fired by retaliation usually 
results in recrimination. Help us break that cycle by being fair by 
Your standards and with Your strength. Through our Lord and Saviour. 
Amen.

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