[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9972]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest Chaplain, Rev. Philip A. Smith, president of Providence 
College, Providence, RI, offered the following prayer:
  Let us pause for a few moments and place ourselves in the presence of 
God.
  As we gather in Your presence this morning, O gracious God, we thank 
You for the gifts You have bestowed on us. The grandeur of the 
universe, the wonder of love, the beauty of friendship, and the time to 
enjoy it all. We thank You for the privilege of living in a land of 
plenty and promise, equality and opportunity, a land where freedom 
reigns and peace is possible.
  We ask Your blessings on the Members of this Senate as they grapple 
with complex economic, social, political, and cultural challenges in 
this Nation and around the world. Grant them the insight, wisdom, and 
courage to fashion legislation that will create a fresh vision and 
inspire hope, that will balance opportunity costs with social justice, 
that will enhance the quality of life for all Americans, while paying 
special attention to those in our midst who experience their existence 
as fragile or painful: the ill and the elderly, the unloved and the 
unwanted, the hungry and the homeless, the disadvantaged and the 
downtrodden.
  Finally, we ask to enrich our faith and strengthen our hope, nurture 
our wisdom and deepen our love, increase our compassion, and broaden 
our tolerance so that our lives may illuminate the lives of others and 
light up the places where we labor and live.
  We ask You this as a people of faith confident of Your love and 
goodness and as a people of hope who trust in Your promises. Amen.

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