[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Charles C. Hobbs, First Baptist Church, Rogersville, 
Tennessee, offered the following prayer:
  Almighty God, we praise You that You chose to redeem us through Your 
act of love.
  You have blessed us with the opportunity to help others even as we 
enjoy the blessings of this land.
  You have given us intelligence to use the products of Your universe 
for the benefit of all mankind.
  You have given us a spiritual dimension, challenging us to combine 
opportunity and intelligence to achieve the goals for which You created 
us.
  Deliver us, O God, from the foolishness of spiritual arrogance, which 
overlooks opportunity, minimizes intelligence, and refuses the benefit 
of spiritual guidance.
  Help us nationally to know that our best days are before us, that our 
past days can instruct us, and that we must use today to help us become 
laborers together with God.
  In our Lord's name. Amen.

                          ____________________