[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  Rabbi Robert Silvers, Congregation B'Nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida, 
offered the following prayer:
  Eternal God, we children of humanity pray to You by many names, but 
in our hearts we all know You as One. Your unity creates the common 
bond between us and is our common bond with You. And though Your 
absolute truth eludes us, nonetheless we strive to be more like You and 
to carry out Your will for humanity: that we live together in peace.
  And though some seek to disrupt the peace and deprive us of our very 
lives, as we witnessed in Boston, we pray, O God, that their actions be 
thwarted and that You continue to shelter us with Your canopy of peace. 
Send healing of body and soul, O God, to the victims of this act of 
terror, to our Nation, and to all who grieve with them. Keep forever in 
Your loving embrace the souls of those who lost their lives.
  We pray that those who do harm be brought to justice and that You, O 
God, instill in all peoples everywhere a love of humanity and a respect 
for each and every human being created in Your divine image.
  Help us, O God, to realize that each of us holds a glimpse of 
something greater; though created mortal and fallible, we need Your 
gifts of wisdom and patience to find partners, even in surprising and 
unlikely places, with whom we must work together to benefit our country 
and our world.
  We turn to You, Source of Peace, to inspire and support the leaders 
of our Nation to find accord even in these times of challenge. May it 
be Your will that in recognizing the Unity of the Divine, they will 
strive to foster a similar unity among themselves for the sake of this 
great Nation.
  Joining together, we say the Hebrew word affirming faith; faith in 
each other, continued faith in humanity, and faith in the Holiness 
beyond us.
  Amen.

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