[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 195 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H6211]
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:
  What a bind we find ourselves in, O God. On the one hand, we know, 
and You have told us, that each human being is made in Your image. 
Every person we gaze upon, work with, debate, and love, on each one You 
have imprinted Your image so that we would be blessed to see Your face 
in theirs.
  And yet, not one of us has been faithful to this image-bearing 
reflection of Your perfect love. Nor have we acknowledged the presence 
of You in the other.
  With the same tongue that we use to praise You, we use to curse. In 
the same prayers we offer time and again for Your wisdom, we persist in 
ignorance of Your command to love one another.
  We confess that there are more times than we care to admit that we 
harbor ill will, envy, and bitterness. Our own ambitions beat strong in 
our hearts and drown out the pleas of those in need of our goodwill, 
compassion, and forgiveness.
  Redeem us.
  As You did at creation, bring order into our chaos and bestow on us 
once again the desire to praise You with our lips and serve Your people 
with our whole selves, that we would be worthy of the divine image we 
bear.
  In Your merciful name we pray.
  Amen.

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