[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H9743]
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:
  Eternal God, in the words of Thomas Merton, we mourn that ``all over 
the face of the Earth, the avarice and lust of [humanity] breed 
unceasing divisions among them, and the wounds that tear [humans] from 
union with one another widen and open out into huge wars. Murder, 
massacres, revolution, and hatred . . . ''
  Forgive us, O Lord, our proclivity for division and our inclination 
to allow our desires for power and our unquenched thirst for control, 
create discord in our families, in our communities, in our country, and 
among sovereign nations.
  We continue to pray for the conflict in Ukraine, and we pray that the 
dispute for land and dominance would, by some miracle, find resolution. 
Remind us that such tragedy reflects our fractured human condition and 
our deep need for Your salvation.
  Convict us each of our part in even the smallest of conflicts, that 
we would set aside our differences and instead strive to maintain the 
unity found in Your spirit. Then mend the broken bones of our families, 
our communities, and our country, and heal the wounds in our world.
  O Lord, abolish the bow, the sword, and war from our lands, and allow 
all to lie down this night in safety.
  In Your most holy name, we pray.
  Amen.

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