[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 30004]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Duane Carlson, Pastor Emeritus, St. Mark's Lutheran 
Church, Springfield, Virginia, offered the following prayer:
  O God, we are bold to ask that You deliver us.
  Deliver us from failure of moral fiber in our citizenship, from the 
counting of things material above virtues spiritual; deliver us from 
vulgarity of life, loss of social conscience and collapse of character.
  Deliver us by the deep faiths on which the foundations of our land 
were laid and the sacrifices of the countless who have gone before us; 
by the memories of leaders of this Nation whose wisdom saved us, whose 
devotion chastens us, whose character inspires us.
  Keep us from pride of mind and boasting, but deliver us by our 
devotion to You and the principles You have revealed for our 
edification and the strength of our society. Deliver us by our 
insistent prayer for a world of peace and prosperity for all people. 
Lord God, hear our prayer and mercifully bless not only us who have 
been chosen to guide, but bless all our people by Your grace and power. 
Amen.

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