Islam | Explorations Media

Which Is the Better Story @Image Journal’s Good Letters blog

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox Studios.

“There’s a scene early in Ang Lee’s majestic Life of Pi film in which the main character watches everything he loves die. Pi is floating in a vast, murky sea as the ship carrying his family and their zoo animals recedes into the distance and sinks. His arms are stretched out wide and his whole body seems to reach for them as they slip away.

This is the moment when I forgot I was wearing 3-D glasses and felt as if I was in the water with Pi, losing everything I love. I’m not sure I would have reacted as viscerally as I did to the scene if it had not been produced in 3-D. As it was, I sat in my seat and wept.”

Read my whole [spoiler alert!] review at Good Letters. It’s my first appearance at the Image blog and I’m honored to see my byline there.

Posted on November 24, 2012 by cascheller

Art, Beauty, Books, Christianity, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, Humanism, Islam, Philosophy, Redemption, Theology, Travel, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

3-D, Ang Lee, Art, Atheism, Beauty, Books, Christianity, Community, Culture, death, Entertainment, Epistemology, Ethics, Faith, Family, filmmaking, Friendship, grief, Humanism, Islam, Judaism, Life of Pi, lost at sea, movie review, ontology, Philosophy, Redemption, religion, suffering, Theology, tragedy, Travel, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk, Yann Martell

Recapturing Innocence With Ang Lee @TheHighCalling

Director Ang Lee in New York City, courtesy Explorations Media, L.L.C.

The sound of a baby’s laughter. A six year old’s wide-eyed wonder on Christmas morning. The moment you first believed. Who doesn’t want to relive innocence like that?
For Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, recapturing innocence in life, in filmmaking, in the cinematic experience is at the heart of his film adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, Life of Pi. Speaking to a group of journalists in New York City last month, Lee said the film is about what happens to a young boy’s innocence after the ship carrying his zoo-keeping family sinks and he’s set adrift on a lifeboat with a dangerous tiger.

The ocean becomes like a desert, Lee said. “It’s a test of his faith, his strength.” …

Read the whole thing at The High Calling.

Posted on November 24, 2012 by cascheller

Art, Beauty, Christianity, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, Humanism, Islam, Leadership, Travel, Vocation

Ang Lee, Art, Beauty, burn out, Christianity, Community, creativity, Culture, David Magee, Ethics, Faith, Family, filmmaking, Friendship, grief, Humanism, innocence, Islam, Judaism, Leadership, Life of Pi, mentoring, religion, suffering, Suraj Sharma, TheHighCalling, Travel, Vocation

9/11 Lessons in Civil Religion @NJShorePatch

Inter-faith messages remind Monmouth County residents who they are.

In Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s model of civil religion, the state is unified and strengthened by public displays of faith that refer to deity, point to the afterlife, draw attention to the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice, and that exclude religious intolerance. Two of the three memorial services I attended on 9/11/11 fulfilled Rouseau’s requirements. The opener fell short. …

To find out what he and others had to say, go to Manasquan Patch. To see photos from the day, go to my set on Flickr.

Posted on September 13, 2011 by cascheller

Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Islam, Leadership, Philosophy, Politics, Public Square, Redemption, Walkin' the Talk

9/11 anniversary, Christianity, church life, Civil Religion, Community, Culture, DeForest Soaries, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Islam, Jean-Jacque Rouseau, Judaism, Leadership, Monmouth County, NJ Shore Patch, Philosophy, Politics, Public Square, Redemption, Walkin' the Talk

Jersey Shore Faithful to Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary @NJShorePatch

Sacred remembrances dominate the weekend calendar.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have excluded clergy from the 9/11 10th anniversary ceremony at the memorial site in New York City, but there are plenty of opportunities here at the Jersey Shore for sacred remembrances. Here are a few of them:

Saturday, September 10

At 8:00 pm, Father Alphonse Stephenson will conduct the Orchestra of St. Peters by the Sea in a “Salute to Civilization” at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. …

For a list of Sunday’s events, go to Manasquan Patch.

Posted on September 10, 2011 by cascheller

Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Islam, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption

9/11 anniversary, Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Events, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Islam, Jersey Shore, Judaism, Leadership, NJ Shore Patch, Public Square, Redemption

Muslims Brave Violent Storm to Attend Friday Prayers @NJShorePatch

Whatever the weather, local Muslims meet for prayer at the Islamic Center of Ocean County.

“Open the gates of mercy for all of us,” Imam Maqsood Qadri prayed as congregants trickled in for Friday afternoon prayers at the Islamic Center of Ocean County in Toms River.

A violent storm had just rolled through the region, pouring down rain and hail, flooding roadways, and making travel dangerous. The communal prayer time, known as Jumu’ ah, was understandably more sparsely attended in the aftermath than it had been when Patch visited June 17.

After offering prayers in both Arabic and English, Qadri’s sermon, or Khutbah, picked up from where it had left off the previous week. He talked again about a miraculous night journeythat Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad took from Mecca to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to heaven, where he encountered Jesus and Moses and received revelation about five-times-daily prayers. …

Read the rest here.

Posted on June 27, 2011 by cascheller

Community, Culture, Faith, Islam, Theology, Walkin' the Talk

Community, Culture, Faith, Islam, NJ Shore Patch, Theology, Walkin' the Talk

Globetrotting toward a Spiritual Center and a Sense of Shared Humanity @NJShorePatch

Dean Fengya’s accidental adventure evolved into a business with a spiritual core.

If you’ve driven the stretch of Route 88 where Point Pleasant Beach meets Bay Head, you’ve probably noticed Dean Fengya’s colorful collection of ceramic pots at Globetrotter, the import store he’s been running for 17 years.

What you may not have noticed is the religious statuary that grounds the carefully arranged field of blue, green, and beige. Fengya doesn’t import it for its religious significance, but that hasn’t stopped customers from turning some of the artifacts into shrines.

“My criteria is beauty. I see something that’s beautiful or I meet people that I know can make something that’s beautiful, perhaps with a little bit of my guidance and direction… and we work together,” said Fengya.

The pursuit of beauty has led Fengya to over 100 countries and he has integrated goods from close to 30 nations into Globetrotter and a second location that is set to open on Route 35 in July, he said.

Take those brightly colored ceramic pots that surround the flagship store, for example. …

To read all about this delightful man and to see more photos of his beautiful wares, go to Manasquan Patch.

Posted on June 17, 2011 by cascheller

Art, Beauty, Buddhism, Culture, Faith, Friendship, Islam, Philosophy, Public Square, Theology, Travel, Vocation

Art, Beauty, Buddhism, Culture, Faith, Friendship, Islam, NJ Shore Patch, Philosophy, Public Square, Theology, Travel, Vocation

High School Social Studies Classes Confront Islamophobia @LaceyPatch

I’ll be dealing with some of the issues raised in this lecture in my next NJ Shore Patch column. I didn’t have the opportunity to do so in this article.

Lacey Township High School is attempting to break cultural boundaries as guest lecturer Engy Abdelkader, a Muslim American, spoke to students about Islamophobia.

Social Studies teachers Julie Ferenc and Joe Humenick hosted Abdelkader in an effort to increase tolerance and reduce bullying, Humenick said. Although previous classes have learned about intolerance and a holocaust survivor is scheduled to speak before the school year ends, Abdelkader is the first person invited to speak on the topic this year, he said.

Abdelkader is a Monmouth County attorney of Egyptian descent. She was born, raised, and educated in the United States. Her goal for the event was to reduce conflicts, misunderstanding, teasing, and bullying, and to build trust and supportive relationships so that a more effective learning environment is created for all students, she said.

Abdelkader opened the discussion by asking students what stereotypes they have heard about Muslims and/or Arab Americans. …

To learn more and to see how Lacey residents are responding, go to Lacey Patch.

Posted on April 29, 2011 by cascheller

Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Islam, Leadership, Public Square, Race, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Community, Culture, Democracy, Education, Faith, Family, Friendship, History, Islam, Leadership, NJ Shore Patch, Public Square, Race, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

Which Is the Better Story @Image Journal’s Good Letters blog

Recapturing Innocence With Ang Lee @TheHighCalling

9/11 Lessons in Civil Religion @NJShorePatch

Jersey Shore Faithful to Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary @NJShorePatch

Muslims Brave Violent Storm to Attend Friday Prayers @NJShorePatch

Globetrotting toward a Spiritual Center and a Sense of Shared Humanity @NJShorePatch

High School Social Studies Classes Confront Islamophobia @LaceyPatch

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