[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Reverend James Patterson, Pastor Emeritus, Lakewood United 
Methodist Church, Erie, Pennsylvania, offered the following prayer:
  God of our fathers, grant that we may greet this day's duties and 
responsibilities with a constant remembrance of the great traditions 
that make this hallowed place echo with debate, compromise, and eternal 
guidance.
  May the realization of Your presence guide all of our decisions. Be 
with us in our silence and in our speech, in our haste and in our 
leisure, in our companionship, and in our solitude.
  May the freshness of this morning and the weariness of the evening 
crown all with the desire to help Your people, our folks at home, as 
well as the strangers in other States and territories.
  May we give them and You our very best, so that some day we may hear 
Your words, ``Well done, good and faithful servant.'' Amen.

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