[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4356]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Before You, O Lord, all is to come to fulfillment. All is called into 
judgment.
  The approaching holy days of spring's mysteries invite us to first 
understand, then embrace, the proposed cycle of womb and tomb: life, 
death, and new life.
  What once appeared drab and even barren now takes shape with 
additional color and the unpredictable production of new life without 
advertisement or previews.
  The tree of life, the fresh flow of rushing water, the new Moon, as 
well as the depth of passion, lead to surrender, only to be surprised 
by the unexpected gift so peacefully given.
  As the long sleep of winter ends, all humanity is awakened for the 
feast by resurrected light that seeks to set the world afire with 
promise and the evolution of re-creation.
  Lord, help Your people to celebrate and to live this new life of the 
eighth day as the free sons and daughters of the living God. Amen.

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