[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend James Thomas, Pastor, Jefferson Street Missionary 
Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, offered the following prayer:
  Our God, who has given this Nation the democratic ideals by which our 
destiny is fashioned, we thank You, that You have blessed our land to 
survive the infectious climate of confusion, uncertainty, poverty, war 
and numerous of other ills; but raising up among us capable leaders 
from the North, South, East and West, our best who have been elected by 
us.
  We set them before thee. Bless each one, one by one. Give them the 
shoes for the journey and strength for their feet. Let us never forget 
the least, the less, and the left out, whose side You are on.
  We ask a special prayer for our sons and daughters on the 
battlefield, whose days are darker than our nights. We pray for the 
mighty who have fallen. We pray for the hurt of their families and 
remind them that hurt goes away, but memories will last forever. Humble 
us as a people to know the high costs of freedom.
  Now we ask that You be not just another guest this day, but You be 
the host. Make us nothing that You may be everything. God bless 
America. In Your name we pray.

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