[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 116 (Monday, July 15, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H4629]
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:
  Merciful God, with the images of the near tragedy in Butler, 
Pennsylvania, and the subsequent melee fresh on our minds, we pray, O 
Lord, for Your forgiveness for our country as a whole. Pardon us, as 
well, for how we have played a part in contributing to the intolerant 
attitudes and rash behavior that has caused the polarization of our 
communities and the division damaging our Nation.
  We pray Your mercy and Your guidance in these days fraught with 
tension and anxiety. Allow Your wisdom to come into our hearts and into 
the hearts of our compatriots. Teach us with Your knowledge, a 
knowledge of decency and grace, that Your will would be the desire of 
our souls.
  Grant us Your discretion, that we would turn from our inclination for 
bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, and that we would 
choose not to let these have a place in our lives. Rather, may 
understanding be our guard and our respect our guide in these 
tumultuous times.
  Would that we then not just silence the rhetoric but love our 
enemies. Would that we not just tolerate those with whom we disagree 
but do good to those who hate us, and would that we not just turn the 
page on such a horrifying event in our own backyard but pray for those 
whose cruelty threatens not just us but the ideals of our democracy.
  For Your mercy and grace on us and on this Nation, we pray.
  Amen.

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