December
17, 2012
Prayer: Stirring the Spirit
 by Nathalie Thirlwall
The Ottawa Regional Bahá’í
Choir was invited to participate in two recent interfaith prayer
gatherings. At the end of October, the Capital Region Interfaith
Council (CRIC) held its fourth Interfaith Prayer Meeting at the
Machzikei Hadas Synagogue with approximately one hundred attending.
Seventeen faiths offered their teachings on prayer with interludes of
music contributions from different faith communities. Bahá’ís believe
that just as our physical bodies require food to live, so our souls are
nourished by prayer. Prayer is indispensable to inner spiritual
development. It draws on the power of God. Worship helps us to
free ourselves from the prison of our egos, to loosen the grip of our
self-centeredness and surrender our will to the Will of God. The
program contributions ended with several prayers of Baha’u’llah sung by
the Baha’i choir.
At
the beginning of December the Choir participated in the Festival of
Light celebration held at the Bruyere Continuing Care facility with
some seventy patients and family attending. It was a bilingual program
with five faiths offering prayers and musical  presentations
that brought additional joy to those people who find themselves in this
long-term care hospital. The Bahá’í Choir offered a prayer
praising God and acknowledging our profound gratitude to our Creator.
Through prayer, we raise our spirits, promoting lofty thoughts and
motivating ourselves to great acts of service and sacrifice. The Choir
also contributed several rousing songs in English, French and Zulu.
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