Turkey Day

            We headed to the airport early in the morning to fly out to Istanbul, Turkey. As we were boarding the plane, Dr. Kalantzis played the song, “Istanbul was Constantinople,” which was interesting have stuck in my head as we fly into the city, especially when both of these names can be politically charged in certain circles. We landed safely in Istanbul around noon. As we drove out the airport with our new guide, Ilke, my first sight of the city had a minaret in the foreground. This is fitting because even though the state of Turkey is constitutionally secular, the country is 99 percent Muslim, with less than 4,000 Orthodox Christians.  It is hard to believe that the leader of the world’s 300,000 Orthodox Christians live in a country that has a Christian population less than double that of Wheaton’s student body. It will be very interesting to hear from the Patriarch tomorrow.

As we were driving through the city to get to our restaurant, it was just overwhelmed by the Muslim presence in the city, it seemed as though every time I looked out the window, I could see a mosque. It was a very different feel from what I have seen the past couple weeks and especially what I am used to in the US. As I looked out into the streets, I saw very few women, almost none. Most of the women I saw were either with men or were foreigners. Within Ilke’s first three minutes of talking to us, she warned us, especially the girls, of the “machoness” of the men here in Turkey. It was strange to hear this soon quickly from the person whose job it is to welcome and promote her country. It was a little jarring and odd at first, and I needed a few hours to get used to it.

After lunch we headed to the ancient hippodrome, where chariot races would have been held. The site is now paved, but still has some of the statues, columns, and obelisk that were there hundreds of years ago. Today along the hippodrome are the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. We first went into the Blue Mosque, which is still an active mosque. It was the first time I had ever been inside a mosque. It was very beautiful. But as I was walking around, I wouldn’t really want this to happen in a church that I was worshiping in. It was hot, smelly and full of tourists taking pictures, and not being very respectful.

Only a few hundred yards from the Blue Mosque was the Hagia Sophia, once one of the greatest churches in Christendom, converted to a mosque with the invasion of the Turks, now under the modern Turkish government, it is a museum. When Constantinople fell, the Muslims did not destroy Hagia Sophia, but they painted over the icons, mosaics, and frescos, In a way this preserved some of these images. In the restoration of the building, a few of these images were uncovered. As I entered the building the first thing I noticed was the large slab of marble that was used in the entry way was worn down about five inches in the middle because of foot traffic throughout the years! It is a truly amazing thing to see, a noticeable dip in the solid marble from the feet of pilgrims. It was with this mindset that I entered the church, I didn’t want this to be just another old building, I wanted my heart and mind to be in the right state.

The building is partially under construction, but the first thing that grabs your attention are the giant green and gold circles midway up the building. Each of these circles have the name of a holy person of Islam written in beautiful Arabic. The two prominent ones that are at the front of the church that you notice first are the names of Allah and Mohamed.  But, as you look up in the dome above these name, you the icon of Christ. I thought that it was a really powerful image, Christ is still above all things, no matter the circumstance, no matter the country. We went through the church, learning about its history, and seeing some of the beautiful Christian images that still existed. We then had some free time to reflect and pray as we walked around the church. As I prayed and walked around the idea of God being above all things and all circumstances, His sovereignty, really sunk in. Some of the lines form In Christ Alone went through my head, “No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand,” as I walked around. Throughout all time God reigns supreme, above any human action or power of hell. This was a much needed reminder on my first day here in Turkey, when the presence of a different religion and a different and at times uncomfortable culture was prevalent.

Later in the evening, we got together as a group and had a chance to debrief and prepare for the days to come. We were able to talk about our first impressions of Turkey and our thoughts about all that we’ve seen in the last few weeks. We got together and prepared questions for our meeting with the Patriarch. We ended our time together with a time of prayer for Turkey, it’s people, and the church in it.