[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  ``Remember you are dust; and unto dust you will return.''
  Lord God, it was You who first spoke these words to Adam and Eve. 
Year after year, throughout every epic of recorded history, Your word 
echoes with humbling judgment. You remind us how frail and faulty human 
life really is. But You also give us time to change and become Your 
children of light.
  Success, honor and all possessions sift through our fingers. Nothing 
truly lasts, except You, O Lord. The dawn of new life and the cycle of 
death follow each other as surely as daylight follows nighttime.
  May personal conscience and the narration of humanity's crimes 
against humanity call forth repentance and efforts to set things right. 
So let the ashes of human deeds cry out to You.
  O Divine Forgiveness, recreate Your people out of the ashes. Your 
phoenix flame can set us free. Your mercy endures forever. Amen.

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