Sebi-Arus by Wayne Arnason. December 18, 2011

The reason for our Immersion and our pilgrimage to Konya with the group from Starr King School was Sebi-Arus (pronounced Shebi-a-Roos), the anniversary of Mevlana Rumi's passing, which the Sufis describe as his "wedding day with God".

We celebrated the day in three stages. in the morning, we practiced our turning. Thjs week we have had several hours of lessons and practice time in the Sema ritual of the whirling dervishes. A few of us are now able to turn for a few minutes in a relaxed and graceful way without dizziness.

After lunch, we went two hours early to the tomb of Mevlana Rumi for the 4 pm service of recitation in his honor. We were prepared for a crush of people seeking to be in Mevlana's presence on this holy day, either to pass by the tomb and museum or to remain inside for the service. It was not a place for those uncomfortable in crowds! Those of us who have attended very crowded general-seating rock concerts had to use all the survival skills we learned at those events to crowd our way into the tomb.

People were generally polite and as graceful as possible in an uncomfortable situation. Ibrahim Baba led the way in. His stature ( and height) means that he remains visible as people defer to him and he moves ahead more quickly than we do. Soon our group is spread out. Some of us find places to sit or stand near Baba, and others are elsewhere jn the tomb and museum.

During our two hour wait, we sat in meditation, read Rumi's poetry aloud, and interacted with those around us. Kathleen had a particularly vivid experience that she wanted to recount:

"Once inside the tomb, the sounds of the ney (a flute like instrument) were piped in; a lovely haunting melody that blended with the low murmur of the crowd. I started rocking back and forth to the music. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular, had no feelings that I could identify, when suddenly, I found myself weeping. Not just sniffling, but tears rolling out of my eyes, and dripping on the ground. Rather than try to hold them back, I just let them come. I wept for what seemed like a long time, when the man standing beside me, who was the translator for a sheykh who spoke at a previous zikkr, said: "tears mean that that you are accepted here..." in other words, he was saying that whoever sheds tears at the Mevlani wedding night is a gift to Mevlana (Rumi) and that the gift has been accepted. I had not anticipated such an emotional response; nor had I remember feeling so moved before a service had actually begun!!

In the Sufi tradition, tears are a way for the heart to be cracked open, like a cardamon seed, in order to release it's fragrance and essence. The power of the presence of all those pilgrims, standing patiently side by side to pay homage to Rumi was intensely moving.

Wayne continues: After the recitation service, we made our way out slowly, partly because of the crowd and partly because people recognize Ibrahim Baba as a sheykh, and want to receive a blessing or ask for a photograph with him. He moves graciously through this spiritual rock star attention unfamiliar to religious leaders in America.

The third stage of our Shebi-Arus celebration was our final evening of Zikr in Konya. This one started at 8 pm and continued until 4 AM, with peak attendance and a very very crowded room at about 10. We left around midnight, after two rounds of singing, chanting, reciting, praying and dancing in various degrees of intensity.

Walking home to our hotel, we both agreed, it was a wedding we would never forget!

Location:Konya, Turkey

Forty Days by Kathleen Rolenz December 17, 2011

Forty Days by Kathleen Rolenz December 17, 2011




We visited the Atesbaz Veli mosque near Lake Beyseyhir. This 700 year old mosque is noted for it's construction, primarily made of beautiful cedar wood beams and intricate wood carvings at the top, a rare thing to see in Turkey. We were given a tour and explanation of the mosque's beautiful and intricate mitzrah and calligraphy by the mosque's imam.





Then, a surprise! The imam took us to the corner of the mosque, lifted up the carpet and a door, which led down to a prayer area underneath the floor of the mosque. "This is where those who are ready for chilehaney, a spiritual retreat. They do not leave the mosque for the forty days of Ramadan. They have forty olives placed before them, and each day they break the fast with one olive a day. They do not sleep lying down; they have a cane under their chins so they must sleep in a seated position. When the cane falls, they must wake up and begin again."

This rite of passage for a devoted dervish monastic impressed us deeply and scared us at the same time. Solitary retreat is something both Wayne and I have dabbled in, but not explored very deeply in either the Christian or Buddhist traditions. The depth of spiritual practice in the near and middle east among both monastics and lay people is something that we will carry with us.

Forty days ago we were in Hebron, in the West Bank, a city of holy sites and intense conflict about who controls them and who can live near them. It seems like so long ago. Every day of this sabbatical journey has brought so much rich experience. Could forty days alone, just me and my mind and my prayers, possibly be even more valuable to my spirit?

Location:Lake Beyseyhir, Turkey

Zikr by Kathleen Rolenz. December 15, 2011

Every evening the pilgrims of Starr King have participated in Zikr, led by Baba Ibrahim Farajaje, his son Issa, and the worship leaders and musicians who have been an integral part of the immersion experience. The Zikr is a liturgical experience that is both structured and free form; framed by certain phrases and prayers in Arabic, but allowing for participation from the gathered. Last night, the Zikr began by singing Ma Tovu, which was a song created by the Starr King Pilgrims, and we quickly moved into chanting, prayers and singing. Within about the first half hour, a young man rose to his feet, bowed to ask permission of the sheik (spiritual leader) and then, began to whirl. Earlier that day we had a lesson in how dervishes turn. We first began with the feet, and then gradually added the arms : one palm up to receive God and one down pointed towards the earth, and in this way, heaven and earth are brought together in the dervish's whirling. As the rhythm began growing in intensity, so did the man's whirling.


Then, we were joined by three drummers, who raised the energy of the Zikr to a new level. This time, Tarif, the teacher who that morning had patiently endured our clumsy attempts to turn, rose. He was dressed in the costume of the dervish; a tall felt hat symbolizing one's headstone; the long white skirt that represents one's shroud. the spiritual practice of Sema points to the death of the self and union with God. He too bowed and asked permission of the sheik to turn. The drumming was ecstatic , resounding both with the pulse in our veins and the ever present beat of our hearts. Tarif began to turn, slowly at first, his long white skirt fanning out around him. Then, his arms unfolded like a flower, and the whirling became so fast that he became a blur. Everything came together in that moment; the music, chanting, singing, prayers and whirling dervishes.

My rational mind wanted to step back and analyze the experience; but another part just wanted to simply relax and enjoy the moment of being swept up in a rhythms of the drumming and chanting. We left the Zikr about midnight, just as it had begun to wind down; feeling tired and exhilarated all at the same time. Each night is a unique and unforgettable experience; one steeped in devotional practice instead of academic study of Sufism.

We are told that each night builds in intensity as we approach December 17, Sebis-Arus, the climactic day of this pilgrimage week, the day that Mevlana Rumi went to union with God in death. We can hardly wait.

Location:Konya, Turkey

Zen and Sufi Practice Traditions by Wayne Arnason December 17, 2011

Ibrahim Baba asked me if I could do some writing about any perceptions I have about common elements in Zen Buddhist and Sufi spiritual practices. My Zen experience is primarily within the Soto Zen lineage, so these reflections aren't informed by much Vajrayana (Tibetan) experience. I believe that the most obvious common elements I observe have less to do with the particular Buddhist or Sufi lineages that I have experienced, and more to do with a symmetry in spiritual practices among lineage-based religious communities, both monastic and lay.

Scholars of religious practice have long noted that monastics and mystics among the world's religions have much more in common than the average believer in these faiths would perceive. Zen and Sufi theologies both point towards the death of the ego as a gateway to enlightenment or union with God. The Sufis use the word "nafs" to describe the "desires" that Zen practitioners engage with non-attachment. There are many more examples of common philosophical and theological insights that Sufism and Buddhism share, and wiser teachers than I have published accessible books about them.

For purposes of this blog, let me name briefly some of the common structural, rather than theological, aspects of Zen and Sufism that are immediately evident:

1) Both are lineage traditions, with teaching authority passed down from individual empowered and authorized teachers (roshi or shaykh) to their students. How often a particular teacher exercises that authority and the criteria used for transmitting authority to teach are up to each teacher. The roshi's or shaykh's authority is unquestioned within the community that has gathered around them as long as this teacher exemplifies and embodies sound spiritual practice.

2) Because authority is diffused, tensions can arise about how various lineages have exercised the authority to empower teachers, and diverse lineages can have different practices and standards.

3) Liturgical practices of the two traditions both involve recitation from the scriptures and sacred poems, in chant forms.

4) Embodied practice is preferred as a gateway over academic study in both traditions. Although the practice of Sema, "turning", is unique to Mevlevi Sufism, it is interesting to remember that Zen meditation practice includes a period of " kinhin" or "walking meditation", five to ten minutes of slow and normal-pace walking in a circle while maintaining the meditative practice.

5) A unique training and teaching role for monastics in both the Sufi and Zen traditions in that of the Cook. The metaphors of food preparation are commonly used in teaching stories.

6) Stories are a common teaching vehicle in both traditions, and both tell teaching stories describing moments of enlightenment, when a student first "woke up".

7) Both traditions invite longer solitary retreat times as a formational discipline within a lifetime of spiritual practice.

8) Despite the value placed on solitary retreat, the support and shared practice of the community of students is essential.

9) Both Zen and Sufism remain minority mystical traditions within the world community of Buddhism and Islam, viewed with some suspicion and sometimes even hostility by many believers.

Location:Konya, Turkey

Mother's Day! By Wayne Arnason December 14, 2011

It's still December in Konya but the Rumi Immersion created a different kind of Mother's Day by traveling yesterday to two sites outside the city that honor the feminine principle in religion, and jn Sufism in particular. The first was Catal-Huyuk, the archaeological dig first uncovered in the early sixties where some of the earliest evidence of human community and religious practice was discovered. This included statues of the Goddess that led to speculation that these Neolithic communities which pre- date Western Civilization's written history may have worshipped the feminine principle and been matriarchal in structure.


The visit to this site completed a circle in our travels. On November 27, Kathleen wrote a blog reflection on seeing the statues from this site in the Ankara Museum so it was exciting to see the place where they were found.

Our second visit completed another circle. We went to Karama to pay our respects at the tomb where Mevlana's mother and many other family members and descendants are buried. This city is where Mevlana's family first lived when they arrived in Anatolia. The mosque was beautiful and the prayers offered there were deep.

We travel with two young children in our group, and outside the mosque after the visit, two local women who were meeting their husbands and children at this location started talking with the mothers in our group. Lively conversation ensued and photographs were taken. Mothers can always find a bond across whatever cultural or language divisions may separate them.

Location:Konya, Turkey

Turning by Wayne Arnason December 13, 2011

Last night we attended the Sema at the Cultural Center in Konya. Sema is the ceremony and spiritual practice known in the West as the "whirling dervishes". Mevlana Rumi taught the practice in the 13th century and it has remained important in his school of Sufism. It has also been "adopted" by the current Turkish government as a cultural treasure and tourist attraction!

If you are a tourist in Turkey, you can find "performances" of Sema to attend in larger cities, much like the flamenco performances in Spain. In Konya, the government built a 4000 seat auditorium designed primarily for Sema, and pays an honorarium to the ceremony participants. During this week of the pilgrimage, there are two ceremonies each day all week! Our teachers here have mixed feelings about this attention given to Sema. On the one hand, it preserves and makes accessible this practice to a wider audience and draws spiritual seekers to investigate more about Mevlana and Sufism. On the other hand, the ceremonies are offered with little interpretation of the symbolism and spiritual meaning.

While we were moved and impressed by the beauty of the Sema performance, we were acutely aware that spiritual practice is not a spectator sport! While the meditative practice of ritual turning in a small area of space as a way of expressing love for and experiencing the divine is not an easily accessible practice, its most important meaning arises from doing it, not from reading about it or watching it.

Everything in this world is turning, and how we turn, towards truth, towards God, towards daily attention to what us highest and holiest in our lives, makes all the difference in how our life in the world turns out.

Location:Konya, Turkey

The Heart of Sufism

One of the expectations of a dervish is to be of service. As I entered the kitchen at the Dervish Brothers guest house, I asked the hostess if there was anything I could do. Aiesha said "You are the fourth person who asked me if she could help, and I said no before, but something makes me say yes." So, she sat me down in front of a pile of what looked like weeds. She picked up the end of a bunch of spinach, cut off the white stalk, and then cut it in half, putting the gritty remains in one pile and the other parts in the "keep" pile. She handed me a knife and I set to work.

About ten minutes later she returned to the kitchen, looked at my "discard pile" and told me I had cut off and kept the wrong parts!! "Here, taste this," she said, handing me the end of the spinach greens. "This is the heart and it's very sweet."

I have cut up spinach greens much of my life, but I never even knew that it had a heart. I had continued to cut out the heart and put it in the discard pile, when in truth it was the best part.

Aeisha continued to show me how to access the heart, and said: "In Turkish cooking, we use everything. We respect all parts of the plant. In Sufi practice, we try to find the heart in everything; but you must know what it is you are looking for, and you must know how to access it." I had to go back into the bag of dirt and grit covered greens to find the hearts of the spinach that I had thrown out.

Ibrahim Baba said that sometimes a Sufi may be talking about something seemingly unrelated to "spiritual conversations." He said that sometimes students will be disappointed to hear a Sufi talk about a mundane task, yet, the novice dervish will soon realize that the simplest tasks can contain the lesson for the day.

I surely received my lesson for the day, looking--and finding -- the heart of Sufism practice in a pile of spinach greens.

Location:Konya, Turkey

Singing at the Tomb by Wayne Arnason December 11, 2011

Our first obligation after our Rumi Immersion group stepped off the overnight train from Istanbul to Konya was to visit the great teachers whose lives had inspired this visit, Shams of Tabriz and Mevlana Rumi. Readers with only passing familiarity with Rumi may not recognize the name of Shams. He was Rumi's teacher and beloved friend, responsible for "splitting the cardamom seed" of Rumi's heart and opening up the spiritual gifts he gave to the world through his writing.

To visit these teachers and pay your respects, you go to their tombs. The tomb of Shams, unlike that of Rumi, is in an active mosque and not part of a museum that tourist buses visit. Those waiting to enter it are usually pilgrims from around the world and local people. As we approached, the leader of the Russian Sufis who were arrived at the same time recognized our teacher and leader Ibrahim Baba, and warm greetings were exchanged. We all went in together.

Group prayers and singing are discouraged at the tomb to keep the flow of pilgrims moving, but perhaps because of this pilgrimage week, no security officials objected when members of the Russian group began prayer chants. At their invitation, we all sat down and entered into twenty minutes of zikkr, or sacred prayer chant. The room fell still and all who were coming and going after us were caught up in this beautiful moment . It was a glorious way to begin our week in Konya.

Location:Konya, turkey

Christianity as the Land of the Living and Not The Dead by Kathleen Rolenz December 9, 2011

After seeing literally dozens of churches, mosques and synagogues in three different countries, spanning from the first century to the twentieth century, today's visit to Istanbul's Chora Church stood out as one of the highlights of the entire trip for me. The Chora Church was originally built as an Orthodox church in the 5th century and what it lacks in size it makes up for in the incredible beauty of the 15th century mosaics it contains.

What struck all of us about these mosaics, beyond their vivid colors and three dimensional appearance, was the lack of emphasis on the torture, suffering and death of Jesus. Instead, the narthex contained images of and references in Greek letters to Jesus as the Land of the Living and his mother Mary as "the container of the uncontainable." There is a tenderness in many of the scenes between Mary and Jesus; in Jesus assisting the ancestors to heaven, and a gentle intimacy between Mary's parents Joachim and Anna. One mosaic depicting the birth of Mary shows the women attending the birth, caring for Anna, and washing the baby.

As we looked upon the final mosaic, one of the few in the nave, titled "Mary's Dormition" (her bodily death) Rebecca Parker reflected on a question posed to her about the absence of the violent imagery we had grown accustomed to in the churches in Spain. Dr.Parker spoke about how western Christianity's use of redemptive violence as a theological position did not start to dominate their religious art and architecture until the beginning of the 7th century. We asked why? What might have been some of the factors that contributed to the difference between east and west, to the change from these beautiful, peaceful and life-inspiring mosaics to the broken body of Christ on the cross? Her answer was provocative. "This is still a theory, but I believe that fear of Muslims and Jews are connected to Western Christianity's use of violence in depictions of Jesus...". We remembered the history of the Visigoth Christians' anti-Semitism in the 6th and 7th centuries prior to being driven out of Spain jn the 8th by Muslims. In the four centuries that followed, western Christians crusaded to recover their lands, both holy and secular, and punish those who they believed had denied or killed Christ, the only way to salvation. Just as Christ died for us in a vicarious atonement, the western church taught that waging war and dying for Christ was redemptive. So western Christian iconography displayed the violence used to torture and kill Jesus to illustrate that such violence has a salvific purpose.

The images in the Chora church were beautiful not only for their exquisite craft work and intriguing stories, but because they represented the Christianity not obsessed with redemptive violence as the central message of the faith. The Eastern Christian theology and the Marian devotion we have encountered and learned about on our journey is a gift and a comfort we will carry back with us.

Returning Again December 9, 2011

There's a song by Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach we've sung occasionally in church that has the chorus: "Return again, return again, return to the home of your soul." The song is in our song and liturgy book for this Intensive, and has been on our minds as we spent yesterday exploring the buildings and culture of the Jewish community of Istanbul.

We "returned again" to a culture we explored in museums and older neighborhoods in Spain. Back on October 14, we posted a blog about a poignant visit to the artifacts of a once-vibrant Jewish community in Lucena. Our encounter with the Sephardic Jews ended with their exile from Spain when Isabella and Ferdinand decided to make it mono-culturally Catholic in 1492. We did not realize we would find out so much about what happened next to them two months later in Turkey. Many thousands of Spanish Jews were welcomed into Turkey by the Muslim Sultan Bayezid II after 1492, who saw not only a humanitarian need, but an opportunity to enrich the economy and culture of the new Ottoman Empire.

In contemporary Istanbul, there are 14,000 to 18,000 Jews left in a city of 12 million. The cultural and religious leaders of this community realize that there is a chance this unique Jewish culture could become extinct unless they take steps to record and renew it. So they are returning again, returning again to the home of the soul for this community, which is their folk and liturgical music.


At the Ottoman Sephardic Jewish Cultural Center we met Karen Sarhon the Director and Diva of this reclamation and restoration project. Her vibrant personality and persistence have been the engines driving the documentation and the performance of the music that immediately conveys the home of the soul for Sephardic Jews.

The home language of this community is "Ladino" a Spanish dialect that has absorbed elements of Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew into their songs. Of course, the daily language of the Turkish Jews is Turkish, and the last generation of native Ladino speakers is almost gone. This made the preservation of the songs even more critical.

After hearing a fascinating two hour presentation on the music, culture and food of the Turkish Sephardic Jews, we were treated to an evening concert in which the music was brought to life by a band with Turkish instruments and two vocalists, Karen herself taking the lead. It was a wonderful day.

This culture has survived for over 500 years in a Muslim country, not only tolerated but to a certain extent protected by civil authorities. They have not grown because successive generations have succumbed to the attractions of other places to live, Israel among them. The last fifty years of struggle between Israel and its Muslim neighbors have made the Jews in Turkey a target for extremists, and so we went through a thorough security check before we could enter the Sephardic Center. We are not sure what the future holds for them in Turkey. But Karen and her generation are recognizing what they must do to sustain the flame of this unique and precious culture, and we felt honored to be present to their story. It helped us return again to the home of that soul we all share.

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

Ya Hazrati Mevlana! By Wayne Arnason December 7, 2011

For all the time we've been travelling, our e-mails about making arrangements to be part of the Starr King School for the Ministry's Intensive Course on the Sufi religious leader and poet Rumi have had these words in the subject line. The words loosely translated mean "Hail Saint Mevlana" (the name that Sufis and most Turks call Rumi.) Over the past twenty-four hours, we have returned to Istanbul and made the transition from being tourists roaming all over Turkey to being pilgrims whose eyes are turned towards Konya, where the annual Mevlana pilgrimage will be held next week.

We have wanted to join this Intensive ever since Starr King first offered it three years ago, not only because we have long enjoyed the poetry of Rumi, but because we knew there was a deeper story and context to the Rumi poetry translations popular in America, which generally skim over and universalize the Islamic foundation for everything Rumi wrote.

For those reading this blog who are unfamiliar with Sufism, it is described most simply as the mystical branch and order within Islam. Like so many mystical traditions, it resonates profoundly with the teachings of monastic and mystical orders within other religious traditions, especially with the Zen Buddhist and Christian forms with which we are most familiar.

Our "baba", or teacher these next twelve days is Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje, a Starr King School faculty member who has a home in Istanbul and is a practitioner in the Mevlana Sufi tradition. We are joined by Dr. Rebecca Parker, President of Starr King, and co-author of "Saving Paradise", a book on the early Christian understandings of Jesus' life and message and how they were highjacked by theologies of atonement and sacred violence. Seven Starr King students, seven auditors, and five scholar-artists make up our group, which also includes two lively toddlers!

Today we visited Hagia Sofia for the second time, enjoying Rebecca Parker's introduction to this Basilica/Mosque as a vision of paradise on earth as the goal of religious life, and hearing Ibrahim Farajaje's reflection on the "Holy Wisdom" within Christianity and Islam to which Hagia Sofia is dedicated. We also visited a Greek Orthodox church and monastery dedicated to the healing power of the Virgin Mary.
Tomorrow's program explores the history of Sephardic Jews in Istanbul, as we continue to find connections back to our time in Spain where we first met the Sephardic Jews whose exile from Spain brought them here to Constantinople.

So we feel richly rewarded by choosing this Intensive course as our last adventure in these three months of travel. It will tie together a lot of threads connecting Jewish, Christian, and Muslim practice at the deepest level. However there is one new thread we have experienced here already that we recognize we have missed personally as we have travelled, and that thread is worship and group devotional practice.

So much of our travel to sacred sites has involved intellectual learning, in history and theology, and aesthetic enjoyment of natural and artistic beauty. There is a devotional quality to learning and to enjoying beauty, of course. This is different from group devotions and worship through liturgy and song, however. Liturgy, recitation, scripture, and song are going to be important gateways to encountering the Sufi's wisdom on this final stage of the journey, and we welcome this with open arms.

This morning we began the day learning the recitation and chant that is included in the five daily prayers a Muslim may offer. We also learned to sing a Jewish song that includes the chorus " L'Haim Olahim " - "To the Life of the World" ! We sang it on the bus on the road to our destinations today. Wonderful!

And so it begins ! Ya Hazrati Mevlana! L'Haim Olahim!

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

The Power of Words. By Kathleen Rolenz. December 6, 2011

We stood on the spot where tens of thousands of Australians, New Zealanders, (ANZAC) and Turks were killed in the famous battle of 1915 fought on the peninsula between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles Strait known as "Gallipoli". The battle ground where so many lost their lives is holy ground for both Turks and ANZAC. Turks bring their children to Gallipoli to learn their history, to honor the courage of the the Turkish troops and to celebrate the leadership of the great military strategist and war hero, Kemel Attaturk. Australians and New Zealanders also are regular pilgrims here, and are warmly welcomed and hosted and honored by the Turks. It was very moving to stand on this beautiful peninsula held sacred by the former enemies who fought here.

Last week we visited the mausoleum and museum of Turkey's first president, Attaturk and read some of the same stories about this defining moment in Turkey's history. Attaturk's accomplishments were impressive and many; not only did he help to win the battle at Gallipoli, he moved Turkey from a collection of primarily Islamic tribes and nation states to create a united country from the ruins of the Ottoman empire. He westernized Turkish dress, adopted the Western alphabet and is given credit for the very sophisticated and modern country which is Turkey today.

Among these many accomplishments, however, we were particularly touched by one speech given in 1934 --22 years after the battle at Gallipoli. An excerpt from this speech was carved into a monument that stands near the shores of where one of the battles took place. It reads: "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...you are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the 'Johnnies' and the 'Mehmets' to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom, and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."




It was just a speech, but it made a world of difference in the way that the countries who fought at Gallipoli feel about each other. Attaturk's speech was more than an olive branch; it was a heart-felt acknowledgement of how all of us suffer in war; and that it matters not the nationality of the dead soldiers; they were all some mother's sons. The power, grace and elegance of his words made healing possible

On April 25, 2015, ten thousand Australians and New Zealanders are expected to come to Turkey for the 100th anniversary of this battle and to pay their respects to their war dead. These three countries, once fierce enemies have become united in their respect for this holy ground and for the sacrifices made by the young men of their countries.

Location:Gallipoli, Turkey

Myth Busting at Troy by Wayne Arnason December 6, 2011

Most of us grew up learning the story of the Trojan War, and so I was excited to visit the ruins of Troy. Our guide, Isa, is well versed an ancient history and delights in myth-busting, so we were not surprised when he scorned the tacky Trojan Horse at the entrance to the archaeologic site and started giving us the true story.

The true story is that Homer lived 400 years after the time of Troy and had no historical basis for his story, other than the knowledge that there had been a military excursion against Troy about that time. The true story is that the Trojans in the city were Hittites and didn't share a common worship of Greek Gods as Homer depicts. The true story is that the Greek ships couldn't possibly withdraw into hiding behind the little island we could see in the distance and that however the Greeks managed to get into the city, a wooden horse is an unlikely military strategy for them to employ.

The archeological tour was fascinating. We saw nine layers of Troy, covering three thousand years of ancient settlement at this site. It's a rich source of knowledge about the ancient world.

But the stories of wily Agamemnon and mighty Achilles, grieving Priam and brave Hector, and the legendary beauty of Helen of Troy, still fire our imaginations. It's good to know the truth but it's also good to enjoy the myth. The original archeologists who searched out this site had agendas that went beyond the pursuit of historical fact. They wanted fame and they wanted to use myth to support political and cultural agendas of their own.

With no agenda of our own save our own learning and pleasure, we were able to be in Troy as a place in history and a place in our imaginations, and enjoy both .

Location:Troy, Turkey

First Church! by Wayne Arnason December 5, 2011

There are dozens of "First Churches" among UU congregations all over the country, because that was the common, and optimistic, name for the first U or U church established in a city. Too often it has turned out to be the first and only.

Before leaving off our notes on the ancient Biblical cities whose ruins we visited, we had to mention that in Laodecia, we had the chance to see what might arguably be the real First Church, i.e. the first church building ever constructed, as early Christian communities decided they were big enough to move out of meetings places in caves or private homes. It was a thrill to see this ancient building.

We're going to save some more reflections on what we learned about sustaining and maintaining religious buildings and communities over the centuries for this year's messages about ( what else ? ) the Stewardship Campaign!

Location:Laodicea, Turkey

The Footsteps of Paul By Kathleen Rolenz December 5, 2011

Seeing the restored ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus was certainly a highlight of our sabbatical journey, and a familiar highlight for the many tourists who come here from cruise ships or day tours from Istanbul. It's among the oldest and most complete Roman cities to be excavated and partially restored. It's also a city of great interest to Christians because it is often mentioned, especially in the Book of Acts' stories about the journeys of St. Paul.



While in Ephesus, our feet walked on the actual stones that were underneath the feet of the apostle Paul during his stay in Ephesus. It was a profound feeling, to walk in his footsteps; and to see and touch some of the stones that he certainly would have touched. For many liberals, Christians or not, Paul is a controversial figure. He was certainly the main reason that so many early Christian communities were created; his travels alone extend from modern day Syria, to Turkey, Greece and Italy. He was a prolific writer, preacher, and church organizer. His theological positions are still being debated today, including the ones that our modern day sensibilities don't like very much.

However, while visiting some of the places where he either visited or wrote about, it's impossible not to have some admiration for this bandy-legged, balding, short-of-stature man who was so passionate about Jesus' message that he would risk prison, torture, exile or death to preach about it. The fact that Paul was nearly kicked out of Ephesus for his preaching The Word really impressed me.



At least that's what I thought until I read the story about Paul in Ephesus in the book of Acts 19: 23-41. In that story, charges are brought against Paul by a silversmith named Demetrius. His chief complaint was not about Paul's theology--but simply that Paul was preaching against the worship of the goddess Artemis, and because this silversmith had a lucrative business of creating statues of Artemis and other devotional objects, Paul's preaching was having an effect on his business! Demetrius' objections were so fierce that he roused a mob to bring Paul to the very stadium where we also stood to either imprison him or run him out of town. Lucky for Paul that he was a Roman citizen because according to Roman law, no citizen may be persecuted without a fair trial. Furthermore, the leader of the townspeople of Ephesus said that he would fault the mob for an unlawful gathering, so Paul was allowed to stay in Ephesus unmolested. I doubt if he would have many friends there after all that !


As we left Ephesus, there was the usual array of souvenir shops selling by-now familiar trinkets; glass keychains, bracelets and baubles to ward off the "evil eye" ; mounds of pashimas and purses; rosaries and crosses, and consumer goods like "genuine fake" watches and sunglasses. I couldn't help but to think of what the Apostle Paul would do upon seeing all this stuff that no one really needs, but so many people buy anyway. "earthly things will pass away, but my words will surely not pass away." He would echo Jesus' words that reminds us that what truly brings happiness is not the trinkets from a souvenir stand or even finely crafted statues of Artemis, but living and walking in the footsteps of Jesus or other great spiritual masters.

Location:Ephesus, Turkey

How the Mighty Have Fallen December 3, 2011

Visiting the ruins of the ancient city of Aphroditus and Laodicia was a humbling experience. Laodicia sat on the hillside near another great city of Heroditus, right next to the lime capped cliffs of Pamukkale. It was one of the cities Paul wrote about in his letter to the Colossians. It's one of the seven cities John of Patmos mentioned by name in the Book of Revelations. The city was visited by Paul and mentioned by John because it was a major population center and had a significant Jewish community.

Each time we visit one of these sites, we track where this place was on Paul's journeys, and we admire the restoration of the ruins and the art and artifacts in the nearby museums. But each time there is a melancholy feeling that we touch as we contemplate the fact that these large ancient cities, with well engineered water systems, good roads, stadiums, governance systems, great art installations, and a strong economic base are gone. What brought them down?

In some cases, natural disasters beyond their control, like earthquakes. In some cases, incompetent administrations that could not see historical and economic changes coming that would change the advantages the city had always enjoyed. In many cases, wars of conquest, often fueled by fundamentalist religious ideologies, laid the city low.

We see these ancient ruins, and then back in our hotel, check the headlines on the I Pad, and read about natural disasters, incompetent administrations, and wars fueled by fundamentalist ideologies. It seems we haven't learned much in two thousand years.

Location:Loadicea, Turkey

Walking in Beauty - Wayne Arnason December 2, 2011

"Beauty is inseparable from the real and the true, because like them, it accompanies the reflection of the One in the many. It opens the doors of the finite unto the infinite, and frees the soul from the confines of mortal forms..." Seyed Hossein Nassr , from "The Garden of Truth".

"The Garden of Truth" is a book about the theology and teachings of Sufism that we are reading in preparation for the beginning of the Rumi Intensive course offered by Starr King School for the Ministry, that will conclude the Children of Abraham half of our sabbatical. I came across this quote today as I was contemplating how to tie together the diverse experiences of the past couple of days into one blog post. Since Wednesdays we have explored ancient cave churches, watched sunsets and sunrises, walked on a beach, marvelled at a waterfall, gazed into the eyes of ancient Roman faces, and splashed in brilliant blue pools of water cascading down white limestone cliffs.

Instantly, it was clear; what was clear was not only one of the unifying threads of the last few days, but a unifying thread of all that we wanted to do on this journey through three countries, faith traditions, and cultures. We wanted to have the time to simply walk in beauty, and to appreciate all that these countries, faiths, and cultures treasure as beautiful.



Wherever we have come as pilgrims, to a holy site revered in sacred history (like St. Basil's Cave in Cappadocia), or to a famous archeological museum with ancient treasures of art (like the Roman sculptures retrieved from Perge on display in Antalya), or a natural wonder admired for thousands of years by Romans, Christians, and Muslims alike ( such as the limestone cliffs and pools at Pamukkale) we have ultimately come as pilgrims in search of beauty.




Tourists are notorious photographers and we are no different. In our defense, I must say we are only trying to capture the beauty that has astounded and moved us, in a form that will help us remember it. In this we are perhaps no different than the Orthodox Christian worshipers praying before their icons. In the 1500 photographs we have made so far, ( pity upon any who ask us if we took any pictures and can we see them?) we are only trying to honor and preserve the reflection of the One in the many that we have found, over and over again, along this road.