[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7823]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Eternal Father, drawing us ever closer to You, the spring rains make 
us mindful of Your presence in our lives.
  Water comes down from the heavens as rain. Although it is always the 
same itself, it produces so many different effects. One in the tree, 
another in the rose bush, still another in the vine, and so in the 
whole of creation. Remaining essentially the same, the rain adapts 
itself to the needs of each creature that receives it with the openness 
of absorbing life.
  In the same way, Your Spirit, Lord, remaining absolutely simple in 
its integrity, apportions its grace upon each Member of Congress. Your 
Spirit makes one a teacher of honest facts; another a visionary of the 
future; to another, the ability to remove obstacles; and yet another 
the art of compromise. Still others respond with a depth of 
spirituality and service not easily recognized.
  May all respond to this plenitude and accomplish great deeds for this 
Nation, revealing Your glory at work in the world now and forever.
  Amen.

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