With His Love

"Shattered Faith" by Hampton Sides, Newsweek.

Mon, 02 May 2011 14:06:10 -0700

What the fall of Greg Mortenson tells us about America’s irrepressible longing for heroes.

CAI-Polaris

Greg Mortensen with school children in Afghanistan.

I remember my first Mortenson Moment. It was a few years ago, in an old auditorium in Santa Fe, N.M., and I sat waiting with my wife and son in a large murmuring crowd. Greg Mortenson, arriving late, flashed a shy smile and a namaste sign as he took the stage. He had a bashful cluelessness that somehow made him all the more endearing. Soon he launched into The Story: How in 1993, he stumbled into the tiny Pakistani village of Korphe after a failed attempt on K2. How the kind villagers nursed him back to health with many cups of tea. How as payment for their generosity, he returned to build a school. How that one school became hundreds of schools across Pakistan and Afghanistan. And how, tonight, we could help him build more.

If Mortenson’s story—distilled from his mega-bestseller Three Cups of Tea—seemed smarmy in places, its pull was irresistible. Anybody with a heart had to be inspired by the beautiful idea that one man could make such a profound difference in such a hard and desperate part of the world. I remember thinking that this was not only a book talk and charity fundraiser, it was something akin to a religious experience—a modern-day tent revival. People had not merely come to listen, they’d come to believe. Mortenson, a son of missionaries and a nurse by training who by then had been thrice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (and whose books were required reading by the Pentagon), was a secular saint who’d seized upon a revolutionary notion that soared across conflicts and continents—the power of educating children, especially girls, in tribal societies racked by poverty and war. In our cynical age, he was one dreamer who seemed to give off an authentic halo glow. That night, I could see genuine reverence in people’s eyes and in the earnest faces of children clutching their jars of pennies.

I wish I could say now that I was skeptical of Mortenson’s performance, but I wasn’t. Like everyone else, I wrote a check and bought a book and stood in line. I, too, believed.

This past week, thanks to a 60 Minutesexposé followed by an extended piece of electronic journalism by bestselling author Jon Krakauer, we learned that Mortenson may very well be a charlatan. That significant passages of The Story appear to be fictions (including the whole genesis tale about his sentimental recovery in Korphe). That the “Taliban abductors” so harrowingly described in Three Cups of Tea were supposedly friendly villagers protecting him as a guest of honor. That his charity, the Bozeman, Mont.–based Central Asia Institute, is apparently hopelessly mismanaged. That many of its schools stand empty—some of them serving as storage sheds for hay.

It’s only natural to feel betrayed and disappointed upon discovering that those we admire are flawed. But this was more than simple imperfection. Mortenson stood accused of literary, managerial, and fiduciary sins so sweeping that they threatened to demolish the entire edifice of his good works. Believers like me were left to pick up the million little pieces of yet another shattered hero. And to wonder, how could we have been so gullible?

Americans have a profound longing for heroes—now perhaps more than ever. We need our explorers, our sports icons, our Medal of Freedom winners, our Nobel laureates. We need our Greatest Generation warriors, our “Sully” Sullenbergers, our Neil Armstrongs. On some level, we still subscribe to the myth of the man in the white hat. We yearn to believe not only in his good deeds but in his inherent goodness as a person. Perhaps it’s something rooted in our Puritan past, but we seem to have a monochromatic view of heroism. We have a hard time believing that the doer of a heroic deed could have serious defects or even be rotten to the core. Heroes are supposed to be heroic—period. We prefer to take ours neat.

Yet all heroes and saints are imperfect—even the greatest ones. Mother Teresa, Mortenson’s professed role model when he was growing up, was widely criticized for the deplorable condition of her clinics—and for accepting large sums of money from mafia dons and Third World dictators. Martin Luther King Jr. plagiarized parts of his Ph.D. thesis and engaged in marital infidelities. Gandhi had a decidedly weird habit of sleeping beside naked young women to test his vow of celibacy—and, according to a new biography out last month by Joseph Lelyveld, may have had a homoerotic relationship with a German-Jewish architect in South Africa. So what? Their accomplishments seem all the more heroic for their having been complicated, multidimensional, flesh-and-blood human beings.

Our deep need for heroes is tied to the sheer size of our country and the myth of the frontier. During the time of the “winning” of the West, the most popular form of literature in America was the “blood and thunder”: mass-produced novels in which swashbuckling characters like Kit Carson rescued kidnapped women, shot up the savages, and saved the day. There was a real Kit Carson, of course, whose exploits were already extraordinary enough—but never mind, the pulp writers back East had to improve on the story and turn it into fable. The nation was hungry for a single heroic character who could personify the surge of Manifest Destiny, exalting American accomplishments while simplifying the stickiest aspects of Western conquest. Who cares if it wasn’t true?

Perhaps the most telling quote from Krakauer’s piece speaks to this same theme—the notion that Mortenson’s story was allowed to blossom without check for years because it soothed the national conscience during a messy, intractable war. “He’s a symptom of Afghanistan,” a former Mortenson colleague told Krakauer. “Things are so bad that everybody’s desperate for even one good-news story. And Greg is it.”

In the end, I’m not quite sure how I feel about Mortenson’s very public stoning last week. Even when it’s justified, it’s always heartbreaking to dispatch a hero. For my taste, this was a character assassination that went down entirely too fast. In the days of ink, the process by which heroes were knocked off their pedestals took weeks and months; in the digital age, it can be accomplished in hours and minutes. Thanks to a hundred websites, blogs, chatrooms, and social-media sites, all the possible stages of reaction to a complicated story like this—shock, disbelief, resignation, outrage, recrimination, numbness, and then, inevitably, amnesia—race along at warp speed.

As of late last week, it remained unclear how Mortenson’s organization would weather this fast-moving storm. Mortenson himself said he was heading to the hospital for surgery to repair a “hole in my heart”—presumably a literal one. Until we hear from him, I prefer to hold on to the perhaps naive belief that the final truth of these allegations will fall somewhere shy of doing irreparable harm to his great cause. The idea of Three Cups of Tea remains heroic, even if its creator has gone astray.

I, for one, still want to believe.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His..."

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:00:06 -0700

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

- C.S. Lewis

"Between the probable and proved there yawns A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd, Then see behind..."

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00:05 -0700

“Between the probable and proved there yawns
A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd,
Then see behind us sink the ground and, worse,
Our very standpoint crumbling. Desperate dawns
Our only hope: to leap into the Word
That opens up the shuttered universe.”

- Sonnet by Sheldon Vanauken

"Once upon a time there was an old woman who used to meditate on the bank of the Ganges. Once..."

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:00:06 -0700

“Once upon a time there was an old woman who used to meditate on the bank of the Ganges. Once morning, finishing her meditation, she saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the strong current. As the scorpion was pulled closer, it got caught in roots that branched out far into the river. The scorpion struggled frantically to free itself but got more and more entangled. She immediately reached out to the drowning scorpion, which, as soon as she touched it, stung her. The old woman withdrew her hand, but having regained her balance, once again tried to save the creature. Every time she tried, however, the scorpion’s tail stung her so badly that her hands became bloody and her face distorted with pain. A passerby who saw the old woman struggling with the scorpion shouted, “What’s wrong with you, fool?! Do you want to kill youself to save that ugly thing?” Looking into the stranger’s eyes, she answered, “Because it isd the nature of the scorpion to sting, why should I deny my own nature to save it?””

- an oral Sufi story

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this..."

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:57:00 -0700

““If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:26-27)”

- If your love for God is straight and true, this verse from the book of James notes a few important points. Bridling your tongue leads me to Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”—our words should be pleasing to our Lord—if our love is undefiled, our words should be clean and pure, and free-flowing of our love. If we love our God so much—our love should be exemplified when we speak of Him, and like our love for our hobbies or our interests—God should be a big part of our conversations! He has changed our lives! We were dead spiritually but he has revived us! He asks us to “visit orphans and widows in their affliction”… tbc

Welcome the horizon. Photo Credits: guysargent: Youghal Bay...

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:44:36 -0700

Welcome the horizon.

Photo Credits:

guysargent:

Youghal Bay (The Diving Rocks), Cork 2006

Type 79 Polaroid

Photograph © Guy Sargent

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God,..."

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

““Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.””

- (James 4:7-8)

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Invest in His Love, for He is merciful and He is kind. <3

I am a city. My citizens call out for your love, my Lord. Within...

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

I am a city. My citizens call out for your love, my Lord. Within these buildings scouring your earth, are people who cry out to learn of your love…this love that we do not deserve. Fill me up. Fill me up with your love.

Photo credits:

Switchfoot: Dare You to Move welcometoresistence: Welcome to...

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Switchfoot: Dare You to Move

welcometoresistence:

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next

[Chorus]

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

[Chorus]

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

Copyright: Columbia/Sony BMG and Switchfoot

Look up, my child. Beyond your skyscrapers. Beyond the smog....

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Look up, my child.

Beyond your skyscrapers. Beyond the smog. Beyond the windows. Look at the sky I have created.

My God. You are beautiful. We could never compare.

“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

“And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” (Isaiah 35:8)

Photo credits:

"Nijole Sadunaite is a Lithuanian Catholic Christian who was severely persecuted for her faith under..."

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:03:00 -0700

““Nijole Sadunaite is a Lithuanian Catholic Christian who was severely persecuted for her faith under communism. Arrested in 1974 for publishing underground reports of the persecution of Christians throughout the Soviet bloc, she was eventually exiled to Siberia. Since Nijole’s suffering became known by various Christian organizations in the West, a large number of believers knew of her plight. Consequently, Nijole received many care packages while she was in exile. Although it was against the law, the Communist guards made her pay to receive these packages. Prisoners in exile had to work and they received a starvation wage of a meager 75 rubles per month. Their housing cost 20 rubles, and the prisoners were made to pay sometimes over 45 rubles to accept any packages sent to them. But time after time, Nijole accepted these packages, paid for them, and then repackaged them and mailed them to Christians in other parts of the Soviet bloc whom she believed were suffering worse than she was! The Communist guards and postal officials could not make any sense out of this. It was a kindness and a sacrifice that utterly dumbfounded them. One time, some girls who were members of the Communist youth organization questioned Nijole about her strange behavior. Nijole replied that she wanted to help her impoverished brothers and sisters in Christ who were suffering. And the girls asked her, if we were ever put in jail, and you learned of it, would you send us your care packages? And Nijole replied, “of course, if I knew your address,’””

- In an area rare in loving acts, God placed a brilliant light: a sister acting selflessly for her fellow brothers and sisters of Christ. For all the gifts of love from the brothers and sisters who love her—she sends them off to the brothers and sisters who she believes needs them more than she does. They’re all imprisoned! But she thinks of herself less than she does for her brothers and sisters! Think about a moment when you’ve received a great gift—now regift it. I’d say, you know, taking into account that of Nijole being exiled in Siberia, that anything was an amazing gift—but she found greater joy in regifting. I’m pretty sure being exiled in Siberia is not a pleasant experience. Her brothers and sisters were probably overjoyed to receive such regifted gifts. A sister who loves her brothers of Christ. A sister who loves her sisters of Christ. Love.

I am faithfully awaiting your return, my Lord. “But...

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:29:00 -0700

I am faithfully awaiting your return, my Lord.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)

Photo credits:

to be in the sky, my God—we are humbled—our...

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:12:00 -0700

to be in the sky, my God—we are humbled—our contraptions, our designs are nothing to your Creations.

Photo credits:

"I know a single man who came to Christ in his twenties, read the Scriptures, and got excited that he..."

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:11:00 -0700

““I know a single man who came to Christ in his twenties, read the Scriptures, and got excited that he decided to sell his house and give the money to God. But when he shared this plan with older believers in his Bible-study group, something tragic happened: They talked him out of it. If you ever feel inclined to talk a young believer (including your own children) out of giving, restrain yourself. Don’t quench the Spirit of God, and don’t rob someone of the present joy and future rewards of giving. Instead watch and learn. Then lay God’s assets on the table, and ask Him what He wants you to give away.””

- - Randy Alcorn. From the book The Treasure Principal, unlocking the secret of Joyful Giving

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possession, and give to the needy. Provide yourself with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart also.” (Luke 12:32-34).

I find this a very sad example of a similar prevailing message learned from the Book of Job: yeaaaaaa…gotta love those friends of yours. Unfortunately, children of Christ with a heart charged to be Christ-like can get smothered by children of Christ who do not yet understand what it is to have this fire—this empowering desire to love God—to be like Jesus and serve. Yeah—selling all your possessions sounds so ‘wtf’ like in modern society—but we are not modern society are we? We don’t live by such standards. While you may live in a world with those who do not believe in our God—it doesn’t mean by any means that you have to think like they do. We are to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,” (Matthew 6:20)! Millions of dollars on this earth mean nothing for our eternal life with our glorious Creator. Millions of dollars would only serve to better and rebalance the oppression that our God dislikes by balancing the living disparity.

Habitat Photo credits:

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:09:00 -0700

Habitat

Photo credits:

"All that the father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me will never cast me out."

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:08:00 -0700

“All that the father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me will never cast me out.”

- John 6:37

His beautiful creation. Photo credits: amorist: (by Jocelyn...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:05:00 -0700

His beautiful creation.

Photo credits:

amorist:

(by Jocelyn Catterson and Jeremy Daigneault)

the wings

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:04:00 -0700

resonantechoes:

i stand by as the world trips over itself to fall in love with you -
for i know what it’s like to stand by you
for just one measure in the melody of this score.

it’s like a lifetime of sunshine falling upon me all at once
and even now thousands of miles away
i see the trails of your brilliance when i close my eyes.

staff: In light of the recent disasters, our hearts are focused...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:54:00 -0700

staff:

In light of the recent disasters, our hearts are focused on the vibrant and wonderful community in Japan. Your resilience is inspiring, and we hope that recovery will be swift and complete. 少しでも皆さんの力となり、一日でも早く日常の生活が取り戻せる事を願います。

As of today, Japanese is now the newest language available on Tumblr. We’re very grateful for our amazing members in the Japanese community, and we hope you’ll find the new option useful. You can change your language setting on your Preferences page.

To aid the relief and emergency efforts, we’re asking all of our members to contribute to Red Cross International from your Dashboard. Look for the message on the sidebar. Members who donate will unlock the Limited Edition Japanese Tumblr Logo, and Tumblr will match your contributions up to $15,000.

You can also keep up with news from Japan via the #Japan tag page.

日本の皆さま, 頑張ってください。

Love, タンブラー

Beautiful graphic by Rob Dobi