[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 115 (Monday, July 3, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3165]
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:
  Spirit of the Living God, by Your hands we have received all that we 
enjoy, and in You do we find all that we need. On this holiday where we 
reflect on the liberties You have granted this Nation, may we also 
pause in gratitude for our individual freedoms, intended since that 
day, not just for our colonial ancestors, or to a notable few, but to 
each American.
  Remind us that this independence we so zealously celebrate comes with 
profound accountability. When we are inclined to laud our freedom at 
the expense of another's, call us back to the crown of grace You have 
bestowed on us, adorned with the fealty of brotherhood, the compassion 
of sisterhood, the honor of compatriots. Under this mantle of 
responsibility, may we live into Your desire that we serve one another 
in love.
  For the patriot dream, that sees beyond this day, beyond the current 
strife, beyond the present challenges, beyond even our best endeavors, 
we pray Your mercy on us all. Trusting in Your dominion over the years 
we have here on Earth, and the generations that follow, we pray Your 
continued grace on us and on our Nation. God bless America.
  In the strength of Your sovereign name we offer our prayers.
  Amen.

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