[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  Our Father in heaven, because of the abundance of Your mercies, we 
receive this gift of another day. We don't pray for tomorrow and its 
needs, but we do intercede for this day which now bathes us in its 
returning light. Give wisdom and courage to our Senators, as You set 
Your seal upon their lips. Lord, restrain them from speaking words that 
needlessly hurt or discourage some pilgrim by their side. As lovers and 
servants of this land of freedom, make them worthy of the past and 
equal to the present. Mold them to Your purposes. Fashion them with 
Your powerful hands. Shape them on the anvil of these days of destiny 
into instruments fit for Your use.
  Lord, we also pause and pray for the families of Capitol Police 
Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut and Detective John Michael Gibson, who 
bravely gave their last full measure of devotion defending the Capitol 
11 years ago today.
  We pray in Your great Name. Amen.

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