I did not know much about Turkey before my trip.  I knew it was nation rich with history, was a majority Muslim nation that was an important ally of the United States and that it was the home of the Roman Empire for a time.

The most exciting part of the trip was seeing first hand the incredible history of Turkey.  Touring ancient churches and mosques along with historic relics of the Ottoman Empire is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Prior to my travels with Rumi Forum, I was well aware of the strategic importance of Turkey to United States foreign relations in the Middle East. Turkey is figuratively and literally a bridge between West and East and a valuable ally in furthering U.S. friendships and trade relations in the region.  What I didn’t know about Turkey was its culture and its people.  I was eager to visit Turkey to meet elected officials, business leaders and educators – strengthening my knowledge of our important ally Turkey.

Turkey was a place Don and I had always wanted to visit. The history and beauty of the country fascinated us. I had gotten to know a number of Turks while I was teaching English as a foreign language at the Naval War College in Newport and one year we sponsored the Turkish officer and his family. They were all wonderful people who took such pride in their country and only increased our desire to see Turkey for ourselves. Consequently we felt very fortunate to be invited on this trip.

Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there is a field. I will meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.

– Rumi

My pilgrimage to Turkey continues my lifelong journey to learn more about prayer, to participate in interfaith dialogue and to experience the natural revelation of ancient cities such as Istanbul, Ephesus and Cappadocia. Indeed it was truly a spiritually enriching experience – surrendering my fears (false evidence appearing real) to enter holy ground in the peaceful cradle of civilization – for “where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found,”

On a quiet June morning in 2005, a small group of Americans watched the sun rise over the Bosphorus, waiting to go to the airport, and home. We had come with different levels of knowledge about Turkey and Turkish Islam. One was an American-born professor of Turkish and several of us had studied the Middle East for many years. Some were teachers of law or international relations and had arrived in Turkey knowing very little about the country or the people. With all our different backgrounds, we all left with a profound feeling of connection to the country and the people of Turkey. Starting as a group of people who knew one another hardly at all, we had become (along with our Turkish companions) a group of friends.

In May 2007, I received an invitation from the Rumi Forum, to spend one week in Turkey between the 7th and 14th of August. Within one week I acquired new solid friendships with a number of respected colleagues who came from different academic locations in the United States. Their religious beliefs and world perspectives were also diverse. Nonetheless, it was not difficult to find a common ground with them and to build a common language, whose vocabulary centered upon the terminology of peace and tolerance. Bringing people from various backgrounds together is undoubtedly a remarkable success that has to be attributed to the Rumi Forum; a foundation I knew about through a prominent Middle East historian at Georgetown University, who herself joined that marvelous excursion.

I have sat in classes on intercultural and interfaith relations. I have read books and other materials by and on Fethullah Gulen. All my classroom and book learning appeared a spoonful in the ocean of knowledge I acquired through a trip to a land where faiths and cultures meet and enrich one another, where the inhabitants enjoy their past and present side by side. This is a recount of my trip to Turkey, a land important for mutual understanding of faiths.

I was serving as volunteer ‘Nave Chaplain’ at the Washington National Cathedral in July of 2006 when I noticed a group of Muslim tourists who were being shown around by a leader who turned out to be Professor Ali Yurtsever, President of the Rumi Forum. I welcomed them and we began a conversation on the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. As I was taking my leave from the group Ali said that I might be the sort of person who would profit from a trip to Turkey sponsored by the Rumi Forum. Professor Yurtsever took my e-mail address and said he would notify me of the next trip. He followed through on his promise, and I joined a group leaving for Turkey that fall.