Throughout history bridges have been important in bringing people together. Bridges across streams, rivers, valleys and roads give access or passage over obstacles.
The first bridges were made by nature—a log fallen across a stream or stones in the river. The first bridges made by humans were probably spans of cut wooden logs or planks and eventually stones, using a simple support and crossbeam arrangement.
Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed, the material used to make it and the funds available to build it.
The first bridge spanning the Bosphorus Strait was commissioned by the Persian emperor Xerxes in 490 BC. Constructed of boats lashed together (a pontoon bridge), it allowed safe passage to a Persian army of 700,000 on their way to fight the Greeks.
Currently, two suspension bridges span the Bosphorus, connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. The Bosphorus Bridge was officially opened in 1973 during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic. Within the first 24 hours, 28,126 vehicles crossed it, indicating the demand for a route across the Bosphorus.
The second, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge, was completed in 1988. A third bridge, near the northern end of the Bosphorus, is being planned to allow traffic to by-pass the city
Bridges are also important to human relations. We often feel a need to cross barriers between us as individuals. The bridges across the Bosphorus not only join the two sides of the city of Istanbul, but the continents of Europe and Asia, and the cultures of the Christian West and the Muslim East.
For this reason, Istanbul was considered the perfect site for a Catholic priest to address a gathering of 4,000 Muslim youth on the birthday of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. His talk on the prophets as a blessing from God was met with an enthusiastic response. After the talk, the program continued with a young Turkish poet reading his own compositions in honor of Muhammad and a folk singer, accompanied by an electric guitar, sang hymns in praise of God in soft-rock style.
The young men and women were mainly dressed in jeans, t-shirts and running shoes. The only visible mark of their Islamic faith was the headscarf worn by the young women. They were studying computer science, medicine and mechanical engineering or employed as clerks, secretaries, travel agents, delivery truck drivers and construction workers.
According to the resport of the Catholic priest, "They represented a cross section of the modern urban youth of Istanbul, whose common bond was their Islamic faith. Their delight and enthusiasm in welcoming a Christian speaker was undeniably sincere, as was their appreciation for the contemporary styles of praising God and honoring their prohet Muhammad in song and poetry."
He continued to ask, "Who is more representative of Muslims, these young people for whom Islam is fundamentally a religious faith, a path to approach God in worship and a project for doing God's will in daily life, or those who want to kill and destroy in the name of God?"
This meeting in Istanbul formed a bridge between Christians and Muslims, as do interfaith projects around the world that bring Muslims and Christians together to work on human development, anti-poverty, peace and justice around the world. |
