[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  As the fire of autumn fades and the darkening days overtake us, be 
with us, Lord, our God. Let Your spirit bear witness within this 
assembly how the horror of September events have affected us and how we 
have responded both in word and in deed. Now lead us as we enter the 
next season of war.
  Let not the chilling events of terrorism freeze our soul or temper 
our creativity to look at all things in new ways. Take us inside with 
our winter questions and our desires to find hidden but safe corners of 
peace.
  Guide the conversations and debates over the tables of this Chamber, 
as well as the tables of American families, business and law. Restrain 
us from talk of war as if we were talking about the weather or a 
sporting event, knowing there is nothing we can do to change things. 
Rather, let our words be born of determined silence, careful listening, 
and reflective prayer.
  It is You alone, O God, who can bring good out of evil and life from 
a frozen will. We turn to You in prayer because it is there that every 
perception can change. Even how we understand ourselves and what has 
happened to us. Because it is You who takes us through every season of 
life, to You be the honor, power and glory, now and forever. Amen.

                          ____________________