Bicentenary Poems and Prose

The Path of Prayer and Praise

The Path of Prayer and Praise

"The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and the purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God."

The Bab1

There are many ways to pray and praise,
Each religion has forms of its own,
That the faithful daily intone,
To guide them through life's confusing maize.

Importance is not in the words or phrase,
It's the purity of the spirit's tone,
There are many ways to pray and praise,
Each religion has forms of its own.

At dawn and midnight let your prayers raise,
In joyful song and not a mournful drone,
With radiance one of God's names intone,
Begin your day with a prayerful phrase,
There are many ways to pray and praise.

Poet's Note: ▼

Form: [xlink:http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/rondel.html}Rondel {/xlink}
Number of Lines: 13 lines
Rules: A French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet, rhyming as follows: ABba abAB abbaA. The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats.
Choices for the poets to make this week: Your poem can be about any topic.
Written for "Invalid Item"  Week 7.
Poem 38 in the 200 I'm writing for the Bicentenary Celebration of the Birth of the Bab.

Footnotes
1  Selections from the Writings of the Bab, 3. Excerpts from the Persian Bayán, Worship thou God in such wise that if thy worship