[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 140 (Tuesday, August 29, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H4209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Stephanie Vader, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  Creator, here in the last few days of August, we are reminded that 
love and grace is as abundant as the miracle of summer squash.
  God, You take a tiny seed, smaller than our pinky fingernail, and 
produce an abundance of squash the size of baseball bats.
  God, You bless this world with overflowing abundance, but we often 
struggle to trust in Your abundance and act as if there is not enough 
for everyone to flourish.
  Help us to trust there is enough.
  We confess that although we love the good news of God's abundance, we 
often give into our belief in scarcity--a belief that makes us greedy 
and unneighborly.
  We confess that we cannot say we love our neighbor while remaining 
indifferent to their suffering. Loving our neighbor means sharing so 
all can have their daily bread. Loving our neighbor means caring for 
the Earth because it is our common home.
  May it be so.
  Amen.

                          ____________________