麻豆约拍

From Sarah Joseph, Editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine:

Although I am no longer a Christian, the beauty of Easter, which we will be marking this weekend, is something I continue to appreciate. 听Indeed the story of the Passion remains for me one of the most inspiring stories in any religious tradition. The story is carved onto the Passion Fa莽ade of the Church of the Sacred Family, which I was fortunate enough to visit on a recent trip to Barcelona.

The Church, designed by Anton Gaudi, has harsh stone carvings on the outside. Inside, it is a revelation of light, with stained glass windows capturing and directing the light in extraordinary ways. It is an amazing building, perhaps one of the most beautiful I have ever been in. For me, the contrast between the external harshness and internal beauty was particularly powerful.
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In appreciating this beauty and extraordinary poignancy, it made my recent Easter Egg purchase all the more disappointing.
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The giant box and shiny packaging suggested something of worth and value, however once opened there was little more than a hollow egg and a few tiny bits of chocolate rattling around inside. It was all packaging and no substance. Externally it was attractive and promised much, but inside it was vacuous. 听
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The Easter egg was the complete opposite of what all the faiths I have ever studied teach - the focus on building and strengthening the inner heart.
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As a Muslim, I may not accept the narrative of the death and resurrection of Christ as commemorated in this Easter weekend, but I love Jesus profoundly. His message is embedded in the Qur鈥檃n. And I can鈥檛 help but feel that a world of empty Easter eggs, and shiny packaging, is not one that he was working for. Rather he spoke truth to power; and he stood up for the poor, the weak, and the oppressed.
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And if we are to follow in his footsteps then we have to care for the old and frail, the young and disillusioned, the homeless, the needy and the poor. 听We have to be people of substance, not empty eggs.