[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Margaret Grun Kibben, offered the 
following prayer:
  Holy God, even as we acknowledge the tragedy of over 600,000 deaths 
this pandemic has wrought on our country and the devastation it has 
caused around the world, help us to find the gift we are now being 
given: the opportunity to emerge, carefully, from the fear and anxiety 
COVID has imposed on our daily living and rediscover the importance of 
our relationships one with another.
  What a joy it is to see someone else's whole face, to look not just 
in their eyes but to be graced by their whole countenance.
  As we dare to unmask, may we dare also to reveal our hearts to one 
another and rediscover the gift of being in fellowship.
  Even as we risk exposure to the enduring dangers of our environment, 
may we also risk exposing ourselves to the challenge of frank and open, 
albeit respectful, interchange of ideas and diversity of thought.
  In sharing our heartfelt thoughts and opinions, may we also find ways 
to share care and concern with those whose perspectives are at times 
drastically different from our own.
  May we, our faces, our whole selves, unhidden and unrestrained, 
reflect Your generosity, mercy, and love.
  Then reveal Yourself to us, in the face of those with whom we serve 
this day.
  In Your merciful name we pray.
  Amen.

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