Cultural faux pas de deux By Kathleen Rolenz November 30, 2011

I. After leaving Cappadocia we headed southeast to Konya, to visit the tomb of Mevlana Rumi, Sufi Master and poet. The atmosphere around his tomb was somber and devotional; as Muslim women wept openly and prayed with their palms raised. One woman in particular stood out; clearly in deep prayer. Then piercing the devotional silence was the ring of someone's cell phone. The woman in Western dress scrambled for quite some time to find the offending phone to shut it off. The woman in prayer didn't even seem to notice.

II. About an hour after leaving Konya, we pulled up to a really nice gas station rest stop for lunch. I found the restroom, went inside, and then was faced with a row of bidets, but no toilets. This is curious, I thought. I had never seen s restroom like this. Eastern style toilets yes, bidets yes, but this was a wholly new cultural experience. Just then, there was frantic pounding on the door. "Occupied!!" I said. More pounding on the door. "OK, just a minute...". I opened the door and a Muslim woman gently rook my arm and led me out of the bidet room. She pointed towards the sign that said "WC". (bathroom) Then she gestured to a sign that said "mosque". I had unknowingly entered the room where Muslim women wash themselves before going into the mosque to pray. I never expected to see a mosque in a gas station, but there it was!!!

I did not know the Turkish word for "I'm sorry" so I put my hand over my heart and bowed low. She smiled, and seemed to forgive me for almost defiling the place where the faithful wash before prayers. Whew! Now I know the difference between a bidet, a WC, and a place to wash before one prays.

Location:Konya, Turkey

Cappadocian Refuge by Wayne Arnason November 29, 2011

Cappadocia was one of the stops on our sabbatical that we were most looking forward to. Kathleen's interest was focused on the unique place it has in Christian history. She has been interested in the Cappadocian Church Fathers, especially Gregory of Nyssa, whereas I was looking forward to the beauty of the unusual rock formations. What neither of us expected was how overwhelmingly beautiful the entire landscape is, and how it feels like a place of refuge.

We had precious little time to walk alone, or walk together in silence, just the two of us, apart from the group we are travelling with - but when we did, we understood completely why from the second century onward Christian communities, both monastic and lay, had taken refuge here. The dozens of hidden valleys, the womb-like caves offering warmth in winter and cool in summer, the empty landscape filled with spirit and pointing to God, have given shelter, comfort, and inspiration to both Christians and Muslims.


The Christian churches that have been preserved inside these caves with their "fairy chimneys" contain layers of religious art, some of it 1200 years old, covered over with another layer of images a thousand years old. Outside these churches, one valley has a mosque built jnto the mountainside, now unused and part of the world heritage site, but active up until the 1950's. Human beings have been at home here for thousands of years, and left the marks of their faith on the walls. We felt at home too, after just a day. We could easily spend many more days here, exploring many more valleys, finding refuge in every one.

Location:Cappadocia, Istanbul

At the Potter's House- November 28, 2011

"Rise up and go to the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words..." Jeremiah 18




The last visit of the day was at the studio of Galip, an internationally known prize winning potter, who uses the clays of Cappadocia for his many and varied designs. Galip, who looks like a younger version of Einstein, greeted us warmly and then welcomed us into his cave-like pottery studio for a demonstration of how he fashions something out of literally a lump of clay. Seated in front of the potters wheel, he began spinning the wheel with his legs. Wetting his hands he then started fashioning the clay. Just when I thought I knew what he was going to do with it, the form changed before my eyes; at first, a tall vase; then a bowl, finally, a fluted pot with scalloped edges, all done within a moment's time.

Our group fell silent during this process, as we knew we were in the presence of a master artist, but even more than that--I felt as if I were watching an ancient act of creation- fashioning from dirt and water a bowl, a water pitcher, a vase. It's no coincidence that in the Bible the potter is used as a metaphor for God; shaping that which is formless; having the ability to create (or destroy) whatever the Potter has fashioned.



After Gulip created the bowl, he invited questions. Knowing how prominently this ancient art form is featured in the Bible, as well as talking to potter friends who find this craft deeply spiritual, I asked him: " Is there any aspect of the process that you connect with the most; that touches you--spiritually?". He took a while to answer through the translator, and then finally said what I thought he might; the act of putting his hands in the clay and letting the clay speak to him; letting the clay decide what it shall become. He also spoke of the connection with his ancestors; not only his father and grandfather, who were potters before him, but the ancient people from Mesopotamia, who created these objects of practical art.

Afterwards, we were invited to his studio showroom to purchase any items if we wished, and Wayne and I took a long time deciding what to buy. We wanted something that was created from Gulip himself, so we finally chose a plate that carries one of his unique designs, a tulip exploding from the center of a swirl of Cappodocian colors reminiscent of a Grateful Dead poster cosmic spiral. It will serve as a small reminder of the moment with the Master; witnessing creation being fashioned beneath his own clay-stained hands.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Cappadocia, Turkey

Worshiping the Feminine? by Kathleen Rolenz November 27, 2011

Last week there were protests around Istanbul, but we didn't know what was being protested. Our guide, Isa, told us that the protests were about the slap-on-the-hand fines that were given to husbands who beat, or even killed their wives. He said that when the women in the poorer regions of the country were subjected to abuse or murder at the hands of their husbands, the crime was taken up not by civil law, but by tribal law. Tribal law usually sided with the men, giving them either a light sentence or somehow excusing the behavior with the belief that the wife deserved to be punished. Although Turkey is a modern country, governed by laws, some of the areas of Anatolia kept to their old ways; those customs are hard to break; and the current government in Ankara is unwilling to come down hard on domestic abusers.


The next day we had an all-too-brief visit at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. The museum features one of the finest collection of ancient art and artifacts in the world. In several of the displays we saw small statues of the Goddess ; large hips and breasts; images carved into stone of women in ceremonial worship to the goddess; clay knick-knacks that may have been used for decoration or veneration. These are the archeological relics that have led several anthropologists and cultural historians to speculate that the earliest civilization in Anatolia, prior to recorded history, was matriarchal and goddess worshipping.

As I stood looking at these figures fashioned thousands of years ago, I couldn't help but wonder--what happened?? How did we go from worshiping a goddess to pardoning a murderer if the victim is your wife?? Feminist theology had long pointed out the connection between patriarchy and spousal violence. In so many places around the globe even today-- women's bodies, intellect, gifts and rights are abused, ignored or abandoned.



Something else I saw in the museum gave me hope. One particular display featured many small Goddess figurines, as well a clay figure of a man and a woman with two heads, one body, and their arms wrapped around one another. The description said that whether or not these figurines represent a matriarchal society was arguable, but what was clear was that women and men were treated equally in this early civilization.

Perhaps patriarchy did overthrow matriarchy somewhere in Turkey's pre-history, but respect for women is part of this country's cultural heritage. I hope that the legislators and officials who have the power to change and enforce the laws will recall their own rich history of justice for all it's citizens.

As I gazed at the Goddess figures, I saw two Muslim women in hijabs standing next to me and smiling at what they saw. We looked up at each other and our eyes met. We knew we were feeling the same thing.

Location:Ankara, Turkey

Worlds Apart, Side by Side November 26, 2011

Like Jerusalem, Istanbul is an amazing world class city in which the ancient monumental sites are literally a few steps apart but represent different eras of history and different cultural and spiritual worlds. While Istanbul's history has been one of being conquered lost and conquered again by Christians and Muslims, today this Muslim country has tried to steer a secular democratic course which includes religious tolerance. Half a century ago, this meant that the most visible ancient monument to the swirl of alternating Christian and Muslim dominance, the Hagia Sophia, was "secularists" and became a museum.

No longer an active mosque, the Hagia Sophia still sets aside a place for Muslims to pray at the insistence of the conservative Muslim leadership in the society. This does not limit the hours that they are open to the steady flow of tourists, who can move freely throughout this beautiful cathedral and admire the mosaics and the architecture. Hagia Sophia is preserved with it's Arabic inscriptions and Muslim architectural features added on to a Christian building filled with Christian art. We could not help but be transported back to the Mosque of Cordoba where the same thing happened but in the other direction, i.e. Christians preserved a mosque but set a Catholic cathedral inside it!

This is in all contrast to the Sultanahnet Camil, aka, the Blue Mosque, an equally impressive sacred space which is still an active worshipping community. There the hours for viewing are in three blocks, with the rest of the day devoted to prayer. The tourists are limited to one side of the mosque, which gives you a chance to appreciate the expanse of the mosque and beauty of its architecture without the tourists in every corner. The sacred quality of the space is easier to appreciate. As a result, the Blue Mosque made a deeper impression on me (Wayne).

We are looking forward to experiencing these sacred spaces again with the Starr King group before we leave Turkey and expect that this will be a different and deepening experience.

(a P.S. we are having trouble posting even single photographs with the blog texts this week, and haven't managed to figure out how to take time to post pictures to any of our Facebook sites. We have been taking some beautiful images of these places and look forward to finding time to organize them and appropriate contexts to share them when we return.)

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

At the Crossroads November 25, 2011

The places we have travelled on this sabbatical so far have been countries we expected would have complementary cultures and would give us different but complementary experiences of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish worlds in interaction. Andalusian Spain was an immersion into history, in the European culture most influenced by the shifting influences of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity as their faiths were proclaimed in their periods of political and cultural dominance. Jerusalem is a prisoner of its history in many ways. It wants to be a world city welcoming the faithful and the curious from around the globe. It is courted and claimed by two nationalities to be their capital. Like the Anselm Kiefer artwork we wrote about in our last post, Jerusalem's Old City is a vessel trying to hold within its walls the holy yearnings of three faiths, and when you try to compress God into that small a vessel, it cannot help but shatter.

And now we are at a crossroads - Istanbul! Where Europe and Asia meet! Where Constantine declared Byzantium the New Rome and Capital of Christianity, where Sephardic Jews fled from Spain, where the most sophisticated Muslim democracy on the planet shows the world it can be done! We sent our first evening exploring Istikan Street in the New District, as exciting a shopping and walking street as any we have ever seen anywhere, even the Ramblas in Barcelona.

We arrived here on the last leg of our journey on a day that feels just like home in Kate November, 45 degrees and overcast with a chilly wind. Walking on a beach in Tel Aviv seems far away, though it was just yesterday. Traveling within just a few days between Palestine and Israel and into Turkey, we are very aware if the privilege our skin color and passports afford us. We travel freely in the world in a way so many people we have met can only dream about. When we reach a crossroads with a checkpoint, we are assisted in passing through and knowing which way to go. When we come to a body of water, we are ferried over to the other side. From a viewpoint high atop Galata Tower, we are amazed to see Europe and Asia reaching towards each other across the Bosporus, and amazed at how easily we have come to be here at this crossroads.

Location:Istanbul, Turkey

Anselm Kiefer's "Breaking of the Vessels" (Shevirat Ha-Kelim)

On Wednesday, November 23, we walked to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, not realizing that the current show included a show of recent work by German born artist Anselm Kiefer, one of our favorite artists. The Cleveland Museum of Art owns his massive work entitled "Lot's Wife", and we visit this canvass whenever we are in the museum.

When you stand in front of a Kiefer painting, you feel as if you have just stepped into a post-apocalyptic world where little is left but shards of objects left abandoned in pools of drying, cracking paint.There is something about nothingness that connects with the empty spaces inside one's spirit-- and for me, no artist makes that connection better than Kiefer.

His show, entitled "Breaking of the Vessels", was inspired from, among other things, the Jewish mystical book "The Kabbalah." A Kabbalistic creation story says that God compressed Godself to create the world, but the vessels could not contain the light of God and shattered. The namesake work in this show was created by Kiefer in a room built especially for this show, and features his familiar lead books surrounded by and interpenetrated by broken shards of glass. Are the vessels the books of scripture? Are they the ideas, beliefs, and stories they contain? How are they broken? is God still there in the shattered remnants?

The themes of the other works in the show are often Biblical; such as the companion paintings "Noah" and "Ararat"; "Cain and Abel", and "The Salt of the Earth." We were astonished at our good luck at finding once again on our sabbatical path an exceptional temporary show from an artist we love.

Location:Tel Aviv