Click the link above to get a district map of Bangladesh.
WHY I USE THE TITLE “PASSAGE TO BANGLADESH”
The title of this series is “13th Passage to Bangladesh” because this will be my 13th visit since becoming the Executive Director of BMW in 2011. Why “Passage to Bangladesh?” Well, for those who like literary and movie allusions…
In 1871 Walt Witman published the poem entitled “Passage to India” in a collection called “Leaves of Grass.” His inspiration was that moment in the flow of history in which the Suez Canal (1869) and the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable (1866) and the trans-continental railroad (1869) were put into service after about ten years of effort for each of the projects. Whitman enthused (“O my brave soul!”) at how these modern marvels were shrinking the world, bringing humanity together. Even far-flung India was in reach! Really, and not just the stuff of dreams. Every man can be free from bondage to the soil. This will lead to the birth of a new unified humanity! We are literally having a homecoming to Eden from whence we all sprang. It is a passage to ending conflict and solving the world’s problems. Having just suffered through the horrendous and devastating Civil War, Americans were certainly looking for a brighter day!
In 1924 E. M. Forster updates this breathless vision of the future with “A Passage to India.” In this novel, the protagonist, Muslim Doctor Aziz, living in British India, wonders if it is possible to be friends with an Englishman. A young woman with an older woman newly arrived from England want to meet real Indians and thus Aziz finds himself at a tea party making friends with several Englishmen. Things go swimmingly with the new acquaintances until, through several mishaps and misunderstandings, Aziz finds himself in court accused of assaulting the young English woman. Discrimination and suspicion based on race come out strongly during the trial, so disillusioning Aziz that he vows never to befriend a white person again. Thus 50 years after Whitman’s “Passage” to Utopia, we find the passage closed, British colonialism and racism being the culprit. Certainly, with the British Empire at the peak of its power worldwide in 1924, Forster’s novel cast a negative light on the enterprise, which controlled a quarter of inhabited world.
In 1984 a film was made from the novel, winning two Academy Awards and reminding us of the many inequalities based on race that still plague our world, including our Western, liberal democracies.
So, is worldwide understanding and harmony an impossible dream?
As Christians, we believe in the unity of all humanity as taught by the Bible. We are united in our Fall into sin and out of fellowship with our Creator. But all this time the everlasting Gospel has been offering the only hope not only of eternal life, but also of peace and love and unity of humanity. It doesn’t come through advancing technology, but through the blood of Christ. We are united in our need for the Savior. We are united by entering the family of God through faith in our Savior. We are united forever in heaven “from every people and tongue.” May our “Passage to Bangladesh” convey not a bunch of tourists to the other side of the world, but convey our embodiment of the Savior of the world and the truths he taught to brothers and sisters in Christ and to lost individuals. Please prayerfully read the stories from our visit to Bangladesh and rejoice in what God is doing!
