[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21227]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Dr. Ronald F. Christian, Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in America, Fairfax, Virginia, offered the following prayer:
  The psalmist would remind us this day, bless the Lord, oh my soul and 
all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, 
and forget not all His benefits.
  Oh God, for whom the incessant sweep of the hands of our clocks is 
irrelevant and before whom all peoples will one day find themselves 
standing alone, we pause at this moment to pray and give thanks.
  We pray that the least among us will not ever be abandoned.
  We pray that the great among us will always lead with humility.
  We pray that all may share in the resources of this land.
  We pray for the children and for the defenseless of our communities 
that our individual efforts will be focused as much on the needs of 
others as they are on ourselves.
  And we pray for new mothers and fathers that the privilege of 
parental guidance will be honored and accepted. But also, we give 
thanks!
  We give thanks for the farmers who even on this day gather in the 
grain that we find nourishment from in the days ahead. We give thanks 
for protectors of society, the police, the fireman, and those guarding 
the land.
  And we give thanks for hope that even in the darkened times, we can 
``forget not all Your benefits.''
  Amen.

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