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Lofty Devotional Editor’s
Note - Devotional gatherings are an important part of Baha’i community
life in Ottawa and around the world. There are no set formulas for how
such devotional gatherings are run and much room for creativity and
learning. It is in this spirit, we are very pleased to feature a special relection
from Ottawa Baha’i Hayley Miloff, sharing her personal experience
hosting devotionals.
When my brothers and I got an
apartment in Centretown four and a half years ago, we knew we wanted to
make our home a haven for people from all walks of life. We wanted to
create a space where people would feel comfortable, would be able to
build meaningful friendships and would always leave feeling better than
when they arrived. We also wanted to create opportunities for friends
to express their love for the Creator, whatever their faith or lack
thereof, and to have open conversations about life’s big questions. We
decided to host a gathering, which we affectionately called Lofty. And
so it began.
Like many things worth doing, Lofty took some effort. It started out as
a brunch, so my brothers and I would wake up early Sunday mornings and
run around buying cheese and bagels and orange juice. Over time, we
realized the gatherings were just as sweet when they were simple. In
fact, going crazy over the food sometimes took away from the real
reason we were all there: to share prayers and writings from all the
world religions, and to praise the one same God. So Lofty evolved over
time, sometimes bringing people together for meals and other times
simply for prayer, upliftment and enjoying each other’s company.
Lofty became an experiment in
how to foster spiritual connection. We hosted Lofty in our living room,
as well as under a tree in the Arboretum and in parks in downtown
Ottawa. We had morning Lofties and evening Lofties. We had some
gatherings with people of all ages, others focused on youth, and some
specifically for parents and babies. We paired Lofty with arts and
crafts in the afternoons (lovingly coined ‘crafternoons’), board game
nights and soccer games. We hosted it weekly when we could, and less
frequently when work and school got crazy. At times, we asked for help
organizing the program, bringing snacks, and reflecting on how we could
make it better, and people always came through with tremendous support.
Lofty has been blessed by a diverse array of enthusiastic guests,
people from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, agnostic and atheist
backgrounds, exploring ideas of inner transformation and social change
together. Sometimes we would have rich conversations with one guest and
other times had to move to a larger home to accommodate some 50 people.
Participants made Lofty their own by contributing poems, songs, prayers
and quotes from their favourite spiritual teachers, philosophers and
writers. We discussed dozens of themes picked by the group, from joy,
contentment, and relationships, to nature and sustainability, the
spiritual education of children, mothers and mentors, and the harmony
of science and religion. We even had a special Lofty to inaugurate the
opening of the Baha’i temple in Santiago, Chile in October. When one
brother moved to Stockholm, and the other to Arizona, a series of
different roommates added to Lofty’s energy and vitality. At the end of
the day, I came to realize that a devotional is not about the venue or
the hosts, but has achieved its goal “where mention of God hath been
made, and His praise glorified.” And so it continues. If you ever want
to join our ever-expanding group of eclectic friends for prayers, feel
free to be in touch (hmiloff@gmail.com). We’d love to meet you!
