Do You Hear What I Hear?

I get lots of questions about living life in the Middle East-everything from food, to language, to culture.  One question stands out though-"what is the one thing about Turkey that was the hardest to get used to or strangest to you?" I honestly had many things to choose from.  However, in thinking about the question, one thing stands out above the rest: the Muslim Call to Prayer.

I wrote a post on the Muslim faith some months ago, but didn't include much about the Call to Prayer.  Muslims take prayer very seriously-it is one of the main tenants of their faith.  We hear the Call to Prayer 5 times a day.  The times are determined by the sunrise and sunset.  At most mosques, they are recorded calls, although at some of the bigger, more important mosques they might be live.  When Muslims hear the call, they are supposed to stop what they are doing, get on their face towards Mecca, and pray.  In Turkey, a more progressive country as far as Islam is concerned, we don't see people stopping that often.  We do, however, clearly hear the Call to Prayer several times a day.  I don't hear it every time, but it is loud enough to be heard if we are inside and things are relatively quiet.

If you are interested in hearing what I hear several times a day, click here.  W often asks what the noise is, and I tell him it is a reminder for us to sing to Jesus.  So a 3 year old in Turkey often sings "Jesus Loves Me" along with the Call to Prayer.  I can only imagine that our Savior is smiling down from heaven :).

I have often thought about how we as American Christians would be changed if we committed more to prayer.  What if we heard our favorite praise song or hymn blasted from loud speakers 5 times a day?  Would it help us to be closer to the Lord as our day rolls on?

Food for thought.