An odyssey in Turkey

By BILL GREBE- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Imagine you're reading your favorite book and a letter arrives, offering the opportunity to spend a year living in the world the book describes.

Three weeks after I graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 2011 with a degree in classics and religious studies, that's exactly what happened to me. I received an acceptance letter from the Fulbright Commission, offering me a chance to teach English in Turkey for nine months.

I was assigned to a university in Canakkale - 15 miles from ancient Troy, 145 from ancient Pergamum (mentioned in the book of Revelations) and just 210 from Istanbul, the center of an empire that championed religious tolerance for five centuries.

Since September, I have been living in the most effective and interesting textbook I could ever have asked for. I have experienced things that have been on the textbook pages in front of me for the past four years.

I have also immersed myself in modern Turkish culture, enjoying genuine hospitality, great food, more tea than I knew I could drink and the occasional glass or two of the famous raki.

I have witnessed a predominantly Muslim nation struggle to remain open and secular, just as we do in the United States. It has deepened my understanding of and interest in both my fields of study tremendously.

There was one big surprise when I started to research Canakkale before my trip: Its only church, an Armenian Orthodox church, was closed in 1936 and later converted into a theater.

For the first time in my life, there wouldn't be a faith community supporting me when I went to Turkey. After four years in the embrace of my college's campus ministry program, I was a bit worried about that.

Seven months in, I feel as in touch with my faith and vocation as ever. St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, said that the world was a Jesuit's monastery. In Turkey, I've seen that he was right.

The true vocation of a Christian - indeed, of any person - is to do what you're doing as best you can. In my nine months in Turkey, I have been afforded time to study my field more deeply. I am also called to be a teacher, a guest, and a diplomat during that time.

This work, aimed at self-development and at creating peace and understanding, has put me in touch with God in a whole different way than a church does. They are complementary, and faith is not whole unless the world is our monastery.

Beyond that, Turkey has taught to embrace the present. American culture always asks us to look to the future; in contrast, much of Turkish culture is summed up in, "Insallah," a word borrowed from Arabic which means, "If God so wills."

Turks live in the present. You cannot plan on Turkey. That has taught me a much more important reality: You also cannot plan on God. Some days, it's best to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

That ride, and not just its destination, is vocation. Faith is what allows us to trust that the destination is a good place - insallah.

(Mr. Grebe is a native of St. Mary's parish in Crescent now teaching English at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Canakkale, Turkey. He'll start a master's degree program at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in the fall.)[[In-content Ad]]