An Airy Trip to Istanbul

At the Indianapolis airport, the still-new concourse ceilings soar high above me as I wait for my plane to Chicago. I board and settle down to read an article in Relevant about solo work from Sigur Ros front man Birgisson, whose celestial-sounding songs have become worship music for many. Most of this Icelandic band's lyrics aren't lyrics at all, but made up syllables in "Hopelandic", a fact that has actually made it difficult for me to connect with their music. Something about them singing in gibberish just seemed to say something about where we're headed as a culture, obscuring truth and robbing language of meaning. But the article I was reading suggested another perspective, that maybe their songs are closer to "groans that words cannot express" or a prayer language of sorts, something that expresses the deep longings of the heart without forcing them into the confines of words or our ability to express them. Maybe that's why many have connected with this music at a spiritual level. Interestingly enough, one of the Sigur Ros most popular tracks is called "Glosoli", not too distant-sounding from the Greek glossolalia, referring to speaking in tongues. Maybe Hopelandic isn't so devoid of meaning after all?

In any case, while I still don't connect all that much with their music, as I hit the air for Turkey, maybe Glosoli is a fitting first track of a soundtrack for this trip (listen/watch here). The video suggests a jumping-off point too, which is pretty cool and inspiring.

---

I am now in Istanbul after an eight hour flight to Frankfurt, which passed fairly quickly with some fitful sleep, followed by a two and a half hour flight to Istanbul, a half hour light rail ride and a fifteen minute bus ride to the place where I'm staying. My hosts are very hospitable, and we had a good evening getting to know each other last night. I was soon exhausted, though, and I slept well last night, waking this morning to feeling like I had both under- and overslept. Weird. But I'm now thoroughly caffeinated and will soon be heading out to meet some of the folks who will be involved in this week's conference. I'm looking forward to seeing the city in the daylight, and I'll be sure to post some pictures!

Thanks for reading!

Dan