Inclusive prayer day is heartening in our dark times

Any sort of National Day of Prayer event should be as inclusive as possible. That’s especially so in these dark times when so much killing is being done in the name of religion in Iraq.

So it was heartening to see the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council’s National Day of Prayer breakfast last week feature such a broad spectrum of religious beliefs. As it has so often in the past, the council has flexed its ecumenical muscles and brought our local faithful together.

We should all be proud to have such a fine, religiously tolerant organization in our community.

The council’s event also reminded us of the importance of prayer as Imam Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini led a prayer so soon after a car bomb killed his cousin in Iraq.

We’re sure he drew strength from the fact that so many of us had him and his family in our prayers after such a tragedy.