Until recently, chaplains who have prayed in Congress -- including guest chaplains -- have been Jewish or Christian, reflecting the foundations and traditions of this country. In recent months, a Muslim clergyman was invited to pray and now a Hindu.

Congress has the right to ask anyone, or no one, to offer an invocation at the start of each session, but I would like to know -- having opened the door to faiths other than Christians and Jews -- if it will, or should be able to stop any request from any religious faith for representation?

If so, would that be discrimination? I don't know. Does any of this make a difference? Probably not.

Politicians have always sought a covering of faith for their policies and during most of the invocations, most of the Members are not on the floor.

Graduates of medical schools used to be required to take the Hippocratic Oath, which began: "I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:..."

So, the origin of the oath communicated a religious ideal, though a pagan one. It's purpose was to bind a doctor to a standard higher than himself.

In modern times, the Oath has been optional, but the sense of a moral, even religious standard, that would control the ethical decisions a doctor must make has remained. Most doctors respect the religious beliefs of their patients, except when they might conflict with sound medicine and the best interests of the patient. In circumstances involving, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses -- who mostly oppose blood transfusions, or Christian Scientists, who mostly eschew medical treatment -- patients need to make their wishes known in writing before treatment, such as in a will or other legal document that spells out precisely what an individual wants and does not want done.

In the case of children, doctors and the state are usually able to override parental wishes that are based on religion and not medicine if the best interest of the child demands it.

For the Christian, the classic and central verse is John 3:16, because in that one sentence encapsulates the essence of the Gospel message: God loves us so much He sent his only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have life everlasting. There are many, many other wonderful verses that have touched my life, encouraged me and reminded me of what matters most in life, but this one is the capstone of them all.

If one believes the "instruction book" for such offices as "overseers" in the church -- as opposed to believing in the supremacy of cultural trends and opinion polls -- Paul lays out the requirements for such offices in his first letter to his protege, Timothy.

Among them are that pastors, bishops and other clergy must be "the husband of one wife" and "Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil." (1 Timothy 3:1) These qualifications, coupled with other relational rules involving husband-wife and male-female relations, clearly presume a heterosexual, married relationship for bishops.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church bishops have embraced trendiness and abandoned the very Scriptures which are their basis for "evangelizing." If these bishops choose to violate God's instruction book, church members have two choices, should they wish to continue to honor the authority of scripture and its Author: they can remove the bishops from office, or they can leave the denomination. To remain in the denomination and do nothing makes members co-conspirators in the bishops' apostasy.

There is a hymn many Christians sing which includes the plea that God would "drive the dark of doubt away." We live in a fallen world with many temptations and distractions. We witness poverty, war, death and other horrors. We "see through a glass darkly," as Paul writes. We are constantly bombarded with "evidence" that God does not exist.

And yet as we focus on Jesus, it is He who drives the dark of doubt away...by his life, death and resurrection and by His assurance that He goes to prepare a place for us that where He is, we may be also. It is by looking beyond our circumstances in a fallen world and beyond doubt that we find hope and faith. Perhaps Mother Teresa's doubt lasted longer than most, but doubt is not the same as disbelief and in her actions as well as her words, she exhibited more faith than any doubter -- or non-doubter -- I have known.