[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 16690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Today's opening prayer will be offered by 
the Reverend Gregory Knox Jones of the Westminster Presbyterian Church 
in Wilmington, DE.
  The guest Chaplain offered the following prayer:
  Let us pray.
  Mighty God, creator of all that is, we give thanks for this great 
Nation, for its bounteous resources, its diversity of people, and for 
its principles of liberty and justice for all, not only for the 
privileged, not only for the powerful, but for all because each of us 
is one of Your beloved children.
  Call forth the best in these servants, that they may bring honor to 
themselves and instill confidence in those who have entrusted them with 
breathtaking responsibility. Banish from this historic hall small-
mindedness and mean-spiritedness that parade as purity. Instead, bless 
these men and women with that rare and priceless virtue of humility.
  Holy Wisdom, bolster their courage that they may always refrain from 
hollow rhetoric and selfish gain and instead strive for decisions that 
bring great promise to all people. Enable them to glimpse Your vision 
of a world where those who are ill are cared for by the compassionate 
and the hungry are filled because the well-off are generous. Embolden 
each Member in this Chamber with a burning desire to do the hard work 
of governing, that each may become a true servant of Yours and of this 
Nation, so that they may become a model of inspiration to our children 
and grandchildren and lead us to a future of promise.
  Amen.

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