[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 154 (Thursday, November 8, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H7911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page H7911]]

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                        House of Representatives

  The House met at 10 a.m.
  The Rabbi Carole Meyers, Chaplain, Temple Sinai of Glendale, 
Glendale, California, offered the following prayer:
  I am honored to be here this morning with you courageous leaders of 
our country to join together in prayer. It takes courage to pray 
meaningfully in the wake of events shaping our lives.
  It is not that we do not turn to God, we do. We come with our praise 
and with our entreaties, but we strain to hear an answer, to sense 
God's presence radiating back to us, over the abyss that grief and fear 
have created.
  Shall we this morning, just for a moment, stop speaking to God, 
asking God, about God, entreating God, and instead make an effort to 
find once again that experience of God's presence that grounds our 
faith.
  Come with me to that place. Perhaps it was when you witnessed the 
birth of your child, new life so precious and pure, perhaps when you 
saw your soul reflected back at you in the eyes of someone whose love 
was infinite. Perhaps in the tangle of pain and darkness when somehow 
there was a presence to call, to let you know you would move forward. 
Perhaps when a piece of music shook you to your core, bringing an 
exquisite awareness of the depth of human experience.
  Perhaps when you truly saw the miracle of nature surrounding us, the 
sun rising and setting, day after day of nature in its magnificent 
order, there was a moment when you knew that an Other exists before 
whom we stand in awe and whose greatness we strive to reflect in the 
actions of our lives.
  Eternal God, be with us as we move through this time of uncertainty. 
Help us know that we can lend Your presence and use our lives to 
reflect it. Then we will have the faith to bring light and joy, peace 
and comfort, justice and goodness to this magnificent world God has 
created. Amen.

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