Monthly Reflection: Qudrat – On the Power of Memorisation

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Hi friends!

We recently shared a conversation between Collis and Faizi Lefau Fifita about an iPhone and iPad app Faizi has developed to help you memorise prayers and passages from the Baha’i Writings. It’s called Verses, and what Faizi says about the thinking that went into its development is worth a listen:

The part of their conversation that struck me most was when Faizi explains why memorising prayers is important. He said:

“… when I read prayers from books, it doesn’t feel the same to me as when I say them from memory, especially prayers that I’ve known for a long time. I kind of feel like I’ve developed a relationship with those words over time, especially if they’re words that I’ve said for years and years. I’ve grown a lot throughout those years, and so what those words mean to me changes. And I think that’s really special about prayers that you’ve memorised is–they, in a sense, become a part of you in a way that reading from a book can never give you. I think that’s the goal of prayer: is it should be your words. It should be your desires. Like it’s your voice, it’s your conversation.”

I love that! What a powerful understanding of how prayers can be a part of you and become your own. Reflecting on that concept has me wondering what I’d like to work on memorising. Faizi’s goal of memorising the Long Obligatory Prayer is a compelling one!

Faizi and Collis also chat about how you can call on memorised prayers any time, and in any place. I’ve been thinking about being able to call prayers to mind while visiting a Baha’i House of Worship. This last month, the world watched as Canada unveiled the design of its national Temple. The Baha’i World News Service (BWNS) released a short newsreel, and the Canadian Baha’i Community published both the live-streamed ceremony as well as a four-minute animated architectural rendering of the Temple. Our sister-channel, Baha’i Inspired, visited the Canadian National Baha’i Centre during its open house and Asia gives us a tour of the model and drawings of the Temple, speaks with its architect, James Jing Yi Jiang, and to other attendees about their thoughts and reactions to the unveiling.

I was moved when James Jing Yi Jiang described visiting the Temple site with Jordan Bighorn, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, and Bob Watts, who are both of Indigenous heritage. James recounted how Jordan sang a prayer (presumably from memory). He said:

“As I recall my first time listening to Jordan’s prayer, even without knowing the language, I could feel the forest and the wind moving through the music. It convinced me that the temple should not simply sit on this landscape but must feel as though it has always been a part of it.”

With James’ design, the Temple becomes one with the land, just as memorized words of prayers become one with the person who offers them.

I hope to visit the Canadian Temple one day, just as I have visited the House of Worship in Mona Vale. If I persist and make an effort–and perhaps with the help of Verses–I’ll bring more prayers with me.

Love,
Sonjel

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.