Within Iqaluit’s population of around 5200, a unique friendship has been developing among a group of neighbours with considerably different backgrounds.
What is remarkable about this friendship is that it has developed not through a hobby or a sport or a club, but rather through prayer.
The group—which comprises individuals of Inuit, French-Canadian, English-Canadian, Indian, Persian, and Russian backgrounds—gathers every week in a home in Nunavut’s capital to say prayers from different religions and in different languages.
The gatherings have been happening for about eight months now, and the participants say they have been a source of meaningful friendships and spiritual strength.
“Here [in Iqaluit], we’re always looking for ways to spend time with each other,” says Jag Narasimhadevara, who has attended the gatherings several times. “And this is the best.”
“Coming from a Hindu faith,” he says, “for us there are many ways of reaching God. So it’s very comforting to sit down in a peaceful setting and read each other’s prayers. There’s so much in common in terms of faith. So much is the same. It’s just a delight.”
Some of the participants joined the group after having been invited by friends. Others had heard of the Bahá’í Faith and sought out activities initiated by Bahá’ís in their area. Still others learnt about it through chance encounters with participants. But they have all found in the gathering a way of connecting with God and a different perspective of how neighbours can relate to each other.
“It’s through prayer that we can strengthen our faith and do other things,” says Elham Lecorre, who hosts the gathering with her husband, Marc, at their home. “In order to improve the community so that it can move forward, we need things like prayer.”
“And who doesn’t like praying,” she adds, “whether it’s praying for the good of the world or for people? Whoever I invite, I tell them to bring their favourite reading or prayer or whatever is important to them. Because sometimes you receive something and you think, wow, this is a beautiful quote. They can come and share it, and then we all get something out of it. It’s been like that ever since we started this.”
The gathering takes place every Tuesday evening and usually begins with refreshments and a bit of socializing. Then the group jumps into the prayers, which come from different religions and are recited in French, Inuktitut, and English. Prayers from the Bahá’í Faith are also chanted in the original Persian and Arabic.
The program is notably informal. Participants can either share something they have brought or read from one of the prayer books laid out on the table.
The Bahá’ís in Iqaluit also helped organize a special devotional gathering at the local Anglican hall earlier in November to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. That event also featured readings from different religions and in different languages and attracted about 40 people from the area.
The kind of gathering that the Lecorres hold is not unique to Iqaluit. Bahá’ís all around Canada and the world are inviting their neigbours to discover the role that prayer can have in bringing people together and creating the conditions that can lead to healthy and cohesive neighbourhoods.
Devotional gatherings can be found in most communities in Canada. They are often held in ordinary homes and can include music, discussion, and food. The common element underlying all of them, though, is prayer, and its ability to bring together people of all races, classes, abilities, and religions, an objective that the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith deemed vital enough to put at the forefront of His Writings.
“They that are endued with sincerity and faithfulness should associate with all the peoples and kindreds of the earth with joy and radiance,” said Bahá’u’lláh, “inasmuch as consorting with people hath promoted and will continue to promote unity and concord, which in turn are conducive to the maintenance of order in the world and to the regeneration of nations. Blessed are such as hold fast to the cord of kindliness and tender mercy and are free from animosity and hatred.”1