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i have no problem with providing a place for anyone to pray. but i am thankful that as a Christian i am not REQUIRED to follow any prediscribed ritual in prayer.
their whole ritual seems distracting in and of itself to me.
1) gotta be facing the right direction
2) gotta pray five times a day
3) gotta make sure no one walks in front of you
4) gotta be on your knees
5) gotta have your shoes off
6) gotta insure there are no idols around you
7) gotta cover your head
8) gotta pray at the right times
9) and gotta do all these gottas everyday or
else....

i'm thankful the Lord i serve made it simple for us Christians....we have enough to deal with each day besides making sure that we are doing the required worship rituals. whew, i'm tired just thinking about it !

Well, to each his own. I know that Jews, for instance, prefer the structure following all 500+ commandments gives their lives. They say it helps them keep God's desires first in their minds. I expect the Muslims feel that making sure prayer is done just right is a minor thing that helps them keep on the path of righteousness.

I'm just wondering if chapel spaces might be better structured with several alcoves, each built in a way that would help facilitate various modes of religious observances, in the cases where special arrangements are needed.

Certainly, hospitals should be places where people should be able to pray as they feel the need, without having to worry about unnecessary things.

eric,
as a compliment - your post was very unbiased and considerate. there were 613 jewish commandments (laws/mitzvots) and if you were able enumerate the traditions which were superimposed on top of these, you begin to understand the difficulty of possibly pleasing God, for the scripture says if you break one of the least of the laws you are guilty of breaking all the laws..man that is a hardship i could not bear and indeed no one can! that system tends to lead to a self righteousness which is can to tolerate (imo).
but you suggestion to have a multi functional area seems indeed a great idea, but my gut tells me that maybe the muslims/others might have issues in sharing a space 'connected' to other 'religious spaces' - it's only a supposition on my part.

"for the scripture says if you break one of the least of the laws you are guilty of breaking all the laws"

Tiny nit to pick here -- I think you'll find that this concept is found in the New Testament, not the Old. I'll have to go do a bit of research to verify this...

"but my gut tells me that maybe the muslims/others might have issues in sharing a space 'connected' to other 'religious spaces' - it's only a supposition on my part."

I wouldn't be surprised to find that there would be many who would have such a problem. People can be funny about religion at times. My response would be "Tough munchies. Pray here or in the hall -- your choice, dude." {;-)

Structure is a funny thing. The bottom line is whether the structure is serving you, or you serving the structure. Christians thru the ages have had their own structured days. The Liturgy of the Hours evolved very early in the life of the Church to enrich the prayer life of the people. It soon became so complex and weighty, however, that only those in monasteries could perform it. There were early morning prayers, midday prayers, evening prayers, etc. - 7 to 8 prayer times! - depending on where and when you were in Church history.

At the time of the English Reformation, the Book of Common Prayer was instituted to enable the common Christian citizen to come to Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer during the week, and on Sunday as well, along with Communion. I believe it’s very important to have a structured prayer/study life, because it’s so easy to devolve into laziness and/or busy-ness. Some modern churches have become so anti-structure that they ignore the examples of disciplined prayer life evident in both OT and NT. Consequently, their spiritual life has become shallow and unfocused. Everyone is different, and rigid regulation may indeed become oppressive and counterproductive, but contemporary American Christianity could use a bit more structure and discipline across the board.

Was God “wrong,” for example, to require so much structure in the daily temple worship and annual feast schedule? Was the early Church “wrong” to develop forms and structures to focus spiritual growth and ministry. The early Christians recognized the need for such order and took steps to develop a Christian version of the OT discipline. These points can certainly be debated; and there is room for variety; but I, for one, enjoy being part of a more structured tradition. But then I have worshipped and served in less structured scenarios too. Let Christian love prevail.

One thing that liturgy and the structuring of time through prayers and services does is to order all of society according to God’s Word and plan for human experience. With the demise of ordered spiritual living in the West has come the substitution of the banal secular desecration of God’s time (Sunday secularism, etc). Although I lament the intrusion of Islam into American and European culture, I think their 5-times-a-day prayer discipline has helped them to hold the line on secularism and modernity in their countries – although in error.

I think we are headed in the same disastrous direction that Europe has by letting the virulent take-over mentality of Islam become entrenched in so many areas of our national life. The Europeans are just now waking up to the effects an aggressive, legalistic Islam can have on a spiritually decadent and effete culture. We Americans are next on their take-over agenda. Don’t think so – you’re naïve and ill-informed. Hospital prayer rooms today – who knows what tomorrow? And if you think Muslims relate to political correctness and inclusiveness, you’re tragically mistaken.

Nikos, you are spot on!

One of the most visited and worshipped-in sites in Houston happens to be the Rothko Chapel, quite devoid of... well, devoid.
Yet most every stripe of religious persuasion and, yes, agnostic ceremony has been held there.