[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8998]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  All powerful God, yet so loving and merciful, be present and 
attentive to those most in need. A Nation tossed by violent storms and 
upset by tragic human events surrounds grieving families and young 
people in schools with its prayers today.
  As faith-filled Abraham reveals Your own filial love as he gazed on 
his son Isaac, so we identify with any parent who groans in mourning 
over the lifeless body of a child. Bring Your love to bear upon the 
campus of Virginia Tech and all the families affected by the crackling 
sound of gunfire and then the unbearable silence that follows. Thrown 
by the rush of terror and anxiety, may the people of God now reach out 
to them in their overwhelming moment of helplessness.
  You, Lord, through the prophet Isaiah have said You would care for 
the young: ``The Lord, our everlasting God, creator of the whole world, 
grows neither weary nor faint. Yet no one can fathom God with full 
understanding. He gives vigor to the weary, new strength to the 
exhausted. Even if the young and vigorous grow weary and faint, and 
stumble and fall, those who look to the Lord will receive new life. 
They will be lifted up on the wings of eagles. They will run and never 
tire. They will march and never grow weary.''
  We believe in You and with You, Lord God, they will live in Your 
presence until we are all reunited, forever and ever.
  Amen.

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