In the Newspapers - American Special Forces soldiers and mountain tribesman were holding their outpost on the South Vietnamese-Laotian border agains an intense Vietcong onslaught. The Americans had been under a 30-hour siege by communists who managed to smash through the outpost's barbed-wire perimeter shortly before dawn. The camp's radio operator reported that as the battle continued, hand-to-hand combat was going on around them.
In the Congressional Record - Bishop W. Earl Ledden, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., opened the Senate with this prayer:
Almighy God, Maker of heaven and earth, by whom the innumerable worlds are sustained in illiminatable space, we stand in awe of Thy divine majesty. But we stand in grateful adoration when we learn from Thee that Thou are mindful of man.
We pray that Thou wilt enable us to share something of this in Thy nature - that we, too, may be mindful of man. Our temptation is to be mindful of self, and unconcerned for man.
But we bless Thy name that the Founding Fathers of this nation were concerned about human dignity and justice and liberty - that they were truly mindful men.
We remember with gratitude the many acts of this body reflecting concern for human welfare. And we pray that there may always be in this honored place of high decision a concern for what happens to people as a result of legislation.
In this day of confused and conflicting counsel having to do with statistics - statistics in finance and education, in social movements and military strategy - we beseech Thee that the man may not be lost in the mass; but that always there may be wisdom and human concern that considers what happens to people.
So may there be something godlike in the actions and decisions of this day, something bearing witness that Thy servants in this honored place are mindful of man - even as Thou are mindful of us. In Christ's name. Amen.
"On This Day" published by Concerned Women for America Education and Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. No publication date, but I believe it was published in the 1980s.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Foreward
On This Day, LaHay, B. Farris, M.
Some parts paraphrased
Benjamin Franklin must be given the credit for instituting the practice of prayer during the sessions of the constitutional convention in 1787. This practice has continued to today at each opening session of Congress.
After some frustrating days of attempting to create a new form of government, On June 28 Franklin rose to his feet and delivered the following remarks:
"How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in the room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered . . . I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. -- And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." . . . I firmly believe this.
From that day until this, every session of Congress has begun with prayer. It has only been since early in this century, however, that the Congressional Record has recorded the text of the prayers as a part of the historical record of the day's proceedings.
"On This Day" published by Concerned Women for America Education and Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. No publication date, but I believe it was published in the 1980s.
Some parts paraphrased
Benjamin Franklin must be given the credit for instituting the practice of prayer during the sessions of the constitutional convention in 1787. This practice has continued to today at each opening session of Congress.
After some frustrating days of attempting to create a new form of government, On June 28 Franklin rose to his feet and delivered the following remarks:
"How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in the room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered . . . I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. -- And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." . . . I firmly believe this.
From that day until this, every session of Congress has begun with prayer. It has only been since early in this century, however, that the Congressional Record has recorded the text of the prayers as a part of the historical record of the day's proceedings.
"On This Day" published by Concerned Women for America Education and Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. No publication date, but I believe it was published in the 1980s.
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