[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12437]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend Gregory J. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Mt. Olive Baptist 
Church, Hackensack, New Jersey, offered the following prayer:
  Fix our steps, O Lord, that we stagger not at the uneven motions of 
the world. Steady our fainting hearts and trembling hands as we journey 
ever forward into an unknown future.
  As we gather in these hallowed halls, halls hallowed by the 
sacrifices of slaves and slave owners, halls hallowed by men and women 
who gave their lives for our freedom, halls hallowed by the blood, 
sweat, and tears of those who built our great Republic, hear our 
prayer.
  Today, we ask that You would keep our minds focused upon 
righteousness, keep our hearts in tune with Your spirit, keep our eyes 
open to the pain and suffering of Your people, not only in our Nation 
but around the world.
  We thank You, dear God, for the opportunity that is ours. Help us to 
use this wonderful privilege that You have given unto us to serve the 
poor, to encourage the depressed, and to make America everything she 
claims to be.
  In Your name we pray, Amen.

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