Constantinople

My dream was always to go to Constantinople, now Istanbul. It had been the capital of the longest-lived Christian Empire. It was where the rule of law was clarified. Many of the early church councils took place within the Byzantine Empire's boundaries in Nicea, Chalcedon, Ephesus, and Constantinople itself. This was a Greek-speaking civilization that lasted more than a thousand years before succumbing at last to the advance of Islam. I always wondered why it fell when its foundations were so solid in Christ. But perhaps the fact that it went the way of all the world's empires, in the end, should not have been a major surprise.

         In Constantinople/Istanbul, there is tension between Asia and Europe, ancient and modern, with a rich Christian history, and a Muslim present. It is a city of more than seventeen million people, many of them young and ambitious. On a business trip to the city about fifteen years ago, I extended my stay by an extra day and took the time as a holiday to explore. I saw much of the old city, the Hagia Sophia, and the churches that still stand there. There is still a Christian voice in the city even after six centuries of Ottoman and then Turkish rule, and the witness of the generations that lived out their Christian lives in that city still resonates across the centuries.

         My website has a lot of Christian text content, mainly old sermons. In the hotel, while there, I tried to access it but was unable to as it had prohibited content. Turkish society is no longer free, and Christians are a persecuted minority in the country. There are many stories of abuse and marginalization. I could feel the spiritual oppression. The ruins of churches and even those that were restored were now just a form of godliness, and it felt as if God had left the place a long time ago.

         I took a lot of pictures. Sometimes it takes time and concentration to take the perfect shot, and you have to be standing in the right place. That is why I was standing on the tram tracks.

         The trams themselves in the city are all-electric, and they have been the perfect answer to the problem of pollution and traffic congestion in the city. But being electric, they are quite silent, and so I did not hear this one coming. The tram driver might have blared his horn, but it was lost in the hubbub of the city, and it did not register as significant.

         As the tram approached, it was as though I heard a voice and felt a gentle hand grab my shoulder and spin me around. As I did so, I saw the tram pass me by, missing me only by inches, and I looked directly into the shocked face of the tram driver through the glass of the driver's window. He must have seen the surprise on my own face and now realized I just had not heard him coming. My guess is that he had not had the time to slow down or had expected me to move sooner. The tram whizzed past, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt at peace even though I could have been killed, as if in a dream. My feeling was also that it was just not my time to die. Even the thought of death no longer troubled me. My time would come; it was just not today.

         I wondered afterward whose voice it was and whose hand it was. My guess is that it was an angel, maybe even my own personal guardian angel. Whoever it was, it saved my life that day, and I thank God for that.


Notes ▼

PROMPT: "Have you ever encountered someone/something that wasn't visible to you?
But you knew that they/it was there that helped your outcome! "
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The Lighthouse Short Story Contest  (E) This is a faith-based contest where you can share your experiences with others. #2229244 by LegendaryMask❤️

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