[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord God, how poignant is the Pentateuch story when the father-in-law 
of Moses boldly approaches the great lawgiver and says:
  ``You are not acting wisely. You will surely wear yourself out, not 
only yourself but also the people around you. The task is too heavy for 
you. You cannot do it alone.
  ``Now listen to me, and I will give you some advice that God may be 
with you. Act as the people's representative before God, bringing to 
God whatever they have to say.''
  Then his father-in-law outlines for Moses how he is to delegate his 
work of overseeing and communicating with the people. He tells Moses to 
select ``God-fearing and trustworthy helpers who hate dishonest gain 
for themselves. Moses is to form them into a pyramid of dialogue and 
decisionmaking that will reach down to the weakest voices in the 
community.
  ``Moses followed the advice of his father-in-law and did exactly what 
he said.''
  Lord God, help our brothers and sisters in Congress to go and do 
likewise, seeking ``not to be served but to serve'' in Your holy name. 
Amen.

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