[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12761]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Alisa Lasater Wailoo, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  God of us all, today we think of the people of Texas engulfed in a 
tremendous storm.
  We pray for their immediate safety; for security personnel and 
emergency responders; for one unified effort; and that the compassion 
and generosity of the American people will rise to the needs of this 
tragic moment.
  Lord, we also pray that as Jesus rose up in the stern, that You will 
awaken us to the storms of our own making; the whirlwinds of distrust, 
because we fall for the temptation to spin situations, and don't always 
tell the whole truth to ourselves and one another; the gale winds of 
anger, because we refuse to see the injustices and wounds from which 
these frustrations flow; the floods from the endless news cycle and 
social media, causing us to miss Your still, small, sacred voice.
  So speak, Lord, now to each of us, and through Your word, anchor our 
hearts in Your truth that speaks only in love; in Your compassion for 
all who suffer; and in Your promises, until we, like Noah, remember the 
rainbow, and trust You to lead us together through the storm.
  Amen.

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