April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Sky is no limit for chapel at airport
While the Interfaith Prayer Room has been open to visitors for several months, airport officials and Capital District religious leaders will gather on Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. for a formal dedication ceremony. An 8-by-16-foot window depicting the God of the Universe and designed specifically for the room should be in place for the event.
With rosary beads, yarmulkes and prayer rugs available, in addition to such spiritual books as the Old and New Testaments, the Talmud, the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita, visitors from various religious faiths should feel welcome in the room.
Open to all
"Our goal was that anybody who comes through that door would feel comfortable worshiping in their tradition. Once they're in there, it's private between them and God, the Creator, the Divine One," said Rev. Alfred Siegel, a member of the Interfaith Prayer Room Planning Board and a retired pastor of Loudonville Presbyterian Church.Plans for the Interfaith Prayer Room have been in the works for several years, Rev. Siegel told The Evangelist. He assists in the Ambassador program at the airport by greeting visitors and leading tours, and has been asked by many travelers if there was a chapel or prayer room there. Since the airport didn't have such a room, he surfed the internet and checked out websites for other airports to see if they had worship space; some did, but others did not.
An Interfaith Prayer Room Planning Board eventually was formed from the Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim faiths; an architect and craftspeople to design the room also joined the effort.
Priest's input
Among those who have played an active role in creating the space was Rev. Richard Vosko, a Catholic priest whose ideas for the room -- and the window that will grace it -- have been incorporated into the final design.The window, the focal point of the room, will depict a landscape and sky to give visitors a sense of the wonders of creation.
"It's really all about the God of all creation, the God of the cosmos. That's a God who's sometimes predictable and sometimes unpredictable," Father Vosko said.
Open view
Although the room has no outside windows, Father Vosko hopes that the window will help visitors feel less closed in when they stop by to pray or meditate."If we could give people the feeling of being outside while indoors, that would be helpful," he said.
During the months that the room has been open, many visitors have written messages on a poster nearby to express their gratitude for having a place to sit quietly and pray.
A visitor from Los Angeles wrote: "Exactly what I needed amidst a highly stressful travel day," while another traveler penned: "This lovely little room already has a spiritual atmosphere. What a blessing to all who come here to pray, meditate or simply to calm their minds."
So many comments were written that a new poster and a guest book have been placed near the room.
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