[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 134 (Friday, August 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H7495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Alisa Lasater Wailoo, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  Beloved God, we bow our heads as citizens of a country with many 
faiths but founded on the singular belief that out of many can come 
one. E pluribus unum.
  We give thanks for each one of Your children serving in the people's 
House: Members, administrators, and support staff. Thank You for the 
unique gifts of each one.
  We also repent that here and around the world, we turn against one 
another with words and even weapons. We let fear focus us on people 
``like us.'' We sacrifice the call to serve all upon the altar of party 
unity. God, forgive us.
  Fill us with the words of Tony Morrison, beloved American saint, 
reminding us that ``The function of freedom is to free someone else'' 
and the purpose of our power is ``to empower someone else.''
  God, free us to love and live for one another, for each person we 
represent, making us one not in ideology or identity, but in empathy 
and compassion, seeking the others' good as if it is our own. E 
pluribus unum.
  Amen, and amen.

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