standing in the center

Yesterday I returned to Antalya from Istanbul. Istanbul is the most amazing city! We stayed in Sultanahmet (the old city). It would take at least a few weeks to see all that the city has to offer, and I was only there for 2 days. It is a very diverse city with many burroughs ranging from schwanky, young hang out areas to very conservative and traditional areas. I hope I am able to travel through or stay in the city again some time soon.

I heard the call to prayer from the garden area that separates the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. I had a surround-sound experience as I talked on a payphone. It all seemed sort of surreal. So many people hear this same call to prayer and the reactions are so diverse. The feeling I got was sort of eerie. I can admire the buildings, like the Hagia Sophia and other massive religious buildings, but that is really all that they are...just buildings. I've studied their histories and know their design plans and all the interesting facts about them, but that is all...just facts. I can even go touch the buildings with my own hands, to feel and see that they are real. No matter how historic or awesome these buildings seem, they could never compare to the root of what they house. The religious activity inside these monsters is what it is all about. The Hagia Sophia was once the largest church in the world. What happened, then? The futility of these buildings prooves to me that God does not desire fanciful worship, but only true-to-the-core worship. He does not need a building that spills into the streets. He doesn't live there. He lives in the life of the believer, and through that is alive in the world. Though I imagine hearing praise echo through the Hagia Sophia's 150 ft. ceilings is pleasing, I have a feeling that the echo of praise in the heart of a believer is just as glorifying to Him.

"My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
The LORD reigns forever..."
(Psalm 9:3-7)