[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11000]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, offered the following prayer:
  Lord, we read the Bible and there it is: the persistently repeated 
admonition to give thanks. We know You well enough to know that You do 
not need the assurance of our gratitude. Surely, the need for 
thanksgiving must have something to do with our spiritual health. The 
psalmist said, ``O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.''--
Psalm 30:12. In this life and in heaven, forever is a long time. Paul 
said, ``In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for 
you.''--1 Thess. 5:18.
  In everything, Lord? Suddenly we know the secret. Thanksgiving is the 
memory of the heart. We have great memories of Your faithfulness. They 
become cherished memories as we tell You how grateful we are, not only 
for Your blessings, but, for You. We say with Joyce Kilmer, ``Thank God 
for God!''
  Most important of all, we know that when we thank You for all Your 
good gifts, the growth of false pride is stunted. And when we can thank 
You even for the rough and tough things in life, we really can let go 
of our control and trust You to bring good out of the most distressing 
things. And so, we give thanks! And we praise You for the Senators here 
who will be casting their votes today. Thank You for the privilege of 
living in this democracy. Amen.

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