Ruth Parry - My Sabbatical.

My sabbatical study time took place during the months of April, May, June and July 2007. It was an exciting and rewarding time and I thought you might like to know a bit about it.

I spent a month alone in Jerusalem staying at the Ecce Homo Convent on the Via Dolorosa where I met many interesting people from all over the world. In Jerusalem I had conversations with Jews, Muslims and Christians about faith and also about the political situation. I met people of other faiths who were also staying in Jerusalem and had conversations with them too; most notably a couple who were Bahia’s who had been visiting their holy place in Haifa. The hospitality I was given was quite amazing and, contrary to the expectations of many people, I did not feel unsafe for a moment; I have many friends there now with whom I will stay in contact.

From Jerusalem I moved on to Istanbul where John joined me for a week and we celebrated a significant birthday of his together along with my sister and brother in law. I found myself feeling a bit ‘culture shocked’ in Istanbul – it felt so very western after leaving Jerusalem; I also found having other people around me very difficult as I’d become used to my own ‘sacred space’ at the convent. I mused about becoming a nun!

I found Istanbul quite difficult; a fascinating city which straddles Europe and Asia with so much history but, for me, very little spiritual feel to it in spite of its beautiful and numerous mosques. The Top Kapi Palace was amazing; the four of us particularly enjoyed visiting the harem! The Blue Mosque was again very beautiful but John and I much preferred the Suleymaniye Mosque which is much less visited.

I suppose one of the things I found difficult is that Istanbul, formally Constantinople, pays little attention to its Christian past. Almost every church is now a mosque and the Haghia Eirene, thought to be the oldest site of Christian worship in Istanbul is permanently closed to visitors. We did find the church of St Saviour in Chora (in chora = the country) which has walls covered in mosaic pictures many of them depicting the genealogy and life of Christ; this was very beautiful and was certainly a highlight of our visit.

The experience I found the most spiritual, however, was our visit to a ‘display’ of Sufi dancing. I put the word display in parenthesis as, although this was how the event was advertised, it was far from a display. These are the whirling dervishes’ – the Muslim mystic dancers and musicians and I was entranced by the worshipful nature of their movements, the music and the atmosphere; all assisted I’m sure by the venue – the reception hall for the Orient Express train passengers! We also found a shop selling coffee and art where we drank coffee each day and talked with the owner Constantine, an interesting character!

Returning home from Istanbul I felt very unsettled. It’s difficult to put into words the sense of panic I felt as I entered the house and began to see people again; this matched the panic I felt as I contemplated my return to everyday work at the end of my sabbatical! However, though it did take me some time to adjust I still had several weeks to go and many things to do so I made a determined effort to settle!
One of the things I found really hard was the weather! It was raining when the ‘plane landed at Manchester Airport and seemed to continue to do so for the rest of my sabbatical. This did make visiting some of the places I’d planned to visit in this country a little difficult – there are only so many stone circles and ruined abbeys one can meditate upon in the rain without becoming truly depressed! I did visit several though; Castlerigg Stone Circle, Mayburgh Henge and King Arthur’s Round Table in Cumbria and even discovered there is a stone circle on Baildon Moor – less than two miles from my home! As for abbeys, I visited Fountains Abbey, Riveaux Abbey and Lindisfarne Priory. I was interested in the positions of the abbeys and stone circles. Ultimately I had to stop thinking about this because I was getting rather more deeply into the study than the remaining weeks of my sabbatical allowed!

As well as all these things it was wonderful to be able to spend time with my family and friends. Dad had a cataract operation during my sabbatical and it was really good to be ably to help my parents easily whilst he was unable to drive. John and I enjoyed attending several concerts and theatre productions, something we do infrequently because we both seem too busy to organise it until it’s too late – I’ve set up quite a few for the next year!

It was an amazing time and I am so grateful to the Methodist Church for giving me the gift of time and space; I am also grateful to John for respecting what I do enough to encourage me to use the gift creatively. Time and space, when given in this way, are themselves sacred gifts. There were times when I found the gifts overwhelming and was not sure how to approach them. As someone who is used to having almost every minute committed in a diary I found it quite daunting to have blank pages which I had to decide how to fill! I was also anxious that I shouldn’t waste the time; I wanted to ensure that I used it well and effectively. As with all sacred things, my own anxieties made this sacred gift feel, at times, very fragile. This inability to understand and know how to approach the sacred and holy was a trait I saw in others as I observed their behaviour in various places on my journey.

The whole of life can be seen as a sacred gift. This becomes even more so when viewed in the context of the Christian story. Life becomes a multifaceted jewel when lived in the context of God’s story - especially the story of Jesus and those who followed him both during his earthly life and over the centuries since. Sometimes the setting in which we confine that jewel is clumsy and restricting and draws more attention to itself than the gem it is intended to enhance thus we prevent both ourselves and others from seeing the beauty and holiness.

The church in all its variety has made itself custodian of this jewel and that is fine as long as we fashion the setting in such a way that it encourages others to want to draw near - to touch and explore. I don’t suppose that we will ever get it right but we must continue to explore in such a way so as not to put stumbling blocks in the way of anyone and that we never close our minds to the possibility of a different approach. The multi-faith nature of our world adds other facets to this jewel making it sparkle all the more brightly.

Now back at work life has settled into the old pattern more than I wanted it to for various reasons of both work and family life; I crave a blank page in a diary! I’m back into the round of funerals, meetings, worship preparation, pastoral concerns and answering the phone but now with memories of an amazing time and anticipation of another sabbatical …… albeit seven years away!