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.
I didn’t know quite what to expect in Turkey. I knew that it had a rich history, with layer after layer of cultures going back to the Hittites.
I did not know about Turkey’s beautiful landscape, its technological and social progress, the friendliness of its people. I confess that I had anxieties about traveling in a Muslim country, given the current tensions between the United States and many Muslim nations stemming from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I experienced no ill will towards me as an American.
While I understood that the Rumi Forum’s purpose was to foster inter-faith and inter-cultural dialog, I was not prepared for the warmth and seriousness of the dialog as I experienced it in our ten days of travel and conversation. I remember one particular conversation with a Turkish business man who sat next to me at a dinner one evening. I reflected with him that I felt that Christians and Muslims and Jews had so much in common in that our basic statements of faith all begin with the same monotheistic belief. While Muslims affirm, “There is no God but God,” Jews declare, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one,” and Christians recite Sunday after Sunday, “We believe in one God.” His eyes lighted up, he grasped my hand and said, “Yes, we are all brothers.”
Our group consisted of several Muslims and Christians from various communions. We began as strangers to one another, but barriers between us faded into the background as we exchanged stories, experiences and photographs. One of my most memorable experiences was visiting a mosque during the evening hour of prayer. I stood with others of our group and said my Christian prayers of thanksgiving and for love between all people of faith, while Muslim worshipers recited their traditional prayers. I had a strong sense of the one God we all sought to worship and to serve.
It was a rich ten days of travel and conversation. It renewed my sense of our human need for honest and loving conversation across our cultural and religious differences. The alternative to such conversation is a continuation of the suspicion and conflict which has soiled so much of our history.
