[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 164 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H12730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Douglas Tanner, Faith and Politics Institute, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  Almighty God, we come before You this week before Thanksgiving only 
partially conscious of the many gifts You bestow upon us. We know that 
while others are hungry, we are fed, and while others are without 
shelter, we live in comfort. We give thanks for our material blessings 
and often share a measure of our abundance with those less fortunate.
  Yet, we can live as unaware of the gifts You give us in each other, 
the gifts of those who think differently from the way we do, those 
whose experiences shape their perspectives differently from ours, those 
whose cultures cultivate different values and sensitivities, those whom 
You have placed with us in a land which we call one nation, 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
  Grant us, we pray in this season, a deeper appreciation of our 
brothers and our sisters all across this land, and across the aisles in 
this chamber. Open our hearts and strengthen our souls until we are 
instruments of Your peace. Amen.

                          ____________________