“Ride for the Temple” continues for second year

This past Victoria Day, a duo from Kitchener-Waterloo got back on their bikes, calling to mind the blessing of raising up Canada’s National Bahá’í House of Worship.

Leonard Shushan and Peter Van Driel undertook a 139-kilometre, seven-hour bike ride from their community of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., to the site of Canada’s future National House of Worship in Markham, Ont. This marked their second journey, having completed the ride for the first time last year.

Mr. Shushan was inspired to organize the ride by his visits to the Continental Temple in Wilmette, Illinois — known as the “Mother Temple of the West” — where he has participated in the annual Bahá’í Choral Festival for the past six years. Reflecting on those experiences, he notes that visitors are “enriched by the Temple’s beauty.”

Through the bike ride, Mr. Shushan hopes to encourage Bahá’ís to materially support the construction of a House of Worship in Canada. He says, “With roughly 35,000 Bahá’ís in Canada, we are a very small group that has the privilege of making this happen.”

Last year, the pair had to contend with rain. This year, when they set out at sunrise around 5:30 a.m., the weather was beautiful, with temperatures at 17°C, climbing to a high of 30°C. Four local Bahá’ís joined them for the final 10 kilometres of their journey, guiding them along trails to finish their “Ride for the Temple.”

At the Temple site, another local Bahá’í welcomed the riders with water and juicy tangerines. The group concluded the journey by praying together before Mr. Shushan and Mr. Van Driel returned home by bus.