[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord, is it what people say or what others say about us that mirrors 
our truth? Is a person or a nation measured by words written or spoken 
or by ordinary deeds?
  Is it what people say in prayer or on blogs or in the media that is 
most revealing? Or does silent and routine work truly record our 
deepest meaning?
  The Scriptures seem to reveal You, Lord, as One who truly listens to 
people; yet our words tell You nothing. For You see all we do and fail 
to do. You even read human hearts.
  You alone are the most high. You do not change. It is we who change 
as a nation, as a people; sometimes unknowingly, sometimes reluctantly, 
sometimes freely.
  So have mercy on us, Lord, and reveal to us truth, now and forever.
  Amen.

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