[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 122 (Wednesday, September 19, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H5729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Campbell Gillon, Georgetown Presbyterian Church, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  Almighty God, before Whom civilizations rise and pass away, we bow 
before Thee. We are creatures of a day, our lives divinely touched into 
being; endowed with insight as well as sight, conscience as well as 
cleverness, spiritual responsiveness as well as physical reflexes. In 
Thee we exist. Forgive us if in the past, we have denied the ``better 
angels'' of our nature, thus denying divine guidance and help.
  In the light of the recent act of aggression against this Nation, 
horror, shock, grief, fear, revenge, and anger struggle within people's 
hearts. We sorrow at the loss of life, the families shattered, the 
injuries sustained, and the horrendous images that rescuers and rescued 
will forever retain. We commend all such to the care of the One who 
alone is the help of the helpless, the healer of the heartbroken, the 
strengthener of those bowed down.
  Wherever the way forward lies, lead the Representatives of this great 
Nation by eternal beacons of justice, truth, understanding, and 
righteousness, to deal firmly with evil and fairly for a conclusion 
with honor. For such a task, bless the President, his Cabinet, this 
House, its leaders, Representatives, staffers, advisors, and all who 
act for the Nation here. As their days, so may their strength be.
  Bless them with vision informed by wisdom; wisdom instructed by 
truth; truth revealed in integrity, and integrity touched by love; all 
learned in humility before thee, O God, whose children we are called to 
be.
  This we ask in Thy spirit. Amen.

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