Wishing everyone a very Marrakech Christmas

Certainly it is our obligation to show to the whole world that we can live together no matter to which culture and religion we belong... Outside of our religious beliefs there is only one God who attracts us to him and invites us to unremittingly build the world with Him, a world in which man is no longer a wolf to his fellow man, but rather a world in which we recognize each other as brothers and as children of our Father.
That message was the response by the prior of the monastery of Our Lady of the Atlas in Midelt, Morocco to an ill-judged letter from President Sarkozy of France, who had written to the monks about the need for them to participate "in the process of globalisation"*. The Midelt monastery had been established after Our Lady of the Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria was abandoned following the murder of seven monks by terrorists in 1996. The photo was taken by me a few weeks ago and shows the Christmas lights in the avenue leading to Marrakesh's Koutoubia mosque - the mosque can be seen in the background. My own very modest attempt to walk the same walk as those brave monks as well as talking the inclusive talk is reported in Travels beyond TripAdvisor.

* Quote is from The Last Monk of Tibhirine by Freddy Derwahl. Any copyrighted material is included as "fair use" for critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Also on Facebook and Twitter.

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