[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 35 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page H2041]]

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                        House of Representatives

  The House met at 10 a.m.
  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  The prophet Jonah prayed from the belly of the whale. Why is it, 
then, so difficult to pray enclosed here in Congress?
  Lord, at times it seems we are drowning in a sea of confusion amidst 
contradictory currents. Like the prophet, we seem alive under water, 
with so much of the world swimming between You and us. Not knowing if 
we are only treading water, seeing just beneath the surface, or 
actually afraid of the depths, we survive, but do not know what to pray 
for.
  Content to let the motion of this great Nation carry us where it 
will, we seem to live within the walls of a false security. The dangers 
and terror swirling around us cause us to doubt our own power, so we 
tend to trust outer forces to hold us for another day.
  Help us, Lord, to recognize in ourselves Your reluctant prophet. Like 
Jonah, we need You to prove Yourself our savior. Have Your way with us. 
Spit us up onto the shores You would have us trod. Make us realistic in 
achieving Your purposes by addressing the uneasy issues You lay before 
us today. Show us the way to turn things around, and with repentant 
hearts become once again Your people.
  We ask this, believing in the sign of Jonah, both now and forever. 
Amen.

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