Dogma

Turkey is a bridge. It is the land that keeps the Black Sea from weeping into the Agean and is the only country that claims to have a European side and an Asian side. Connecting the Western world to the Middle East and Asia, Turkey is a highway for spirits contained in bodies journeying outward and inward. The land that I reside in is a hub for the soul seeking traveler. 

As I play my hand in sustainable living on this Eco-Olive-Micro-Village, I am dealt volunteers from a well shuffled deck. Jacks from Spain, Queens from Australia, Kings from Palestine, pairs of Hearts from countless suites, and a few Aces in the hole from Turkey.  The shy traveler uses this place as an Eastern point after which they return back into Europe. The bold venture by land through Iran and Pakistan into India and beyond. So many faces and so many stories come through this junction that it is getting harder to find deep and meaningful connections with the temporary members of the community. Only those who share themselves fabulously find a place in my admiration, however everyone that contributes somehow sinks and settles into the bottom of my memory.

The diverse group of people arches together like a rainbow. Five, plus, languages brushing the air with cultural color. Kitchen clashing cuisines coming together like kin. No tradition compromised, the more exotic the more readily accepted.

The plethora of people makes this community more than unique in Turkey, a country made uniform by the steeples and domes of Mosques marking the cities like polka-dots on pajamas. It is curious to see that the multi-dimensional ethnicity of the volunteers are not match by affiliations with multiple religious groups. The majority of the individuals in Turkey are Muslim but it is rare to have a person joining the farm who identifies with any religion at all. It is safe to say that here a strong belief in nature, sustainability, and the environment unifies our thoughts, but no one is bowing their head in prayer for low carbon emissions. 

Our world has as many differences as the universe has moons and little can be seen as universal.  Some things like the sound of music and the logic of math can be understood across cultures. Other things, of course, can not be agreed upon from group to group. The truth that God has a different definition depending on who you are talking to has been curious to me. A force that is intended to be so unifying, in reality is creating so many divides. In some recent experiences with Islam and Christianity I realize that I can look at these two opposing belief systems as unified. In Islam a series of repeated body movements is incorporated in every prayer; to me this enhances a connection to the body an induces a meditative state. Further more, I realize when Christians pray they are most often focused on the inner working of their emotions and relationships; if nothing else this is enhancing self-awareness and creating an inlet for them to explore the cycle of their thoughts. For me,  practicing the body rhythms of Islam and the self-discovery of Christianity together can create a rich harmony of mind, body, and eventually soul. For the first time since I rejected the Catholic church almost five years ago, I can comfortably say that I believe in God and I do pray. My prayer is the constant effort to watch my throbbing thoughts, to balance my pulsing emotions, and to feel The spirit's tone reverberating under my skin. The God I speak of is quite likely no God at all. The formless energy undetectable by the mind and unreasonable to rationality is the connecting entity that is...