From an email I wrote to my sister and a close friend this morning...
This morning I was reading 'Three Cups of Tea' which I had begun a while ago but stopped reading because I was annoyed with some political biases (I think there was an anti-Bush, anti-war line in there, and criticism on how our country has dealt with terrorism... not that I think we're perfect...). I got over it and started reading the book and learned a couple of cool lessons. First, not everything is black and white. That is why we are given the Spirit, and the light of Christ, and the gift of discernment.
I read that one line and decided to judge the author, editor, anyone involved in the humanitarian project (which the book is about) as being radical tree hugging liberals who didn't respect our country or its leaders. As I read today I realized that even if someone has belief with which I do not agree, they can still do a lot of good and I can still learn from them. I am strong enough in what I feel is right not to be swayed in the beliefs I believe are incorrect, to be able to sift through that and learn the great things they have to teach and to contribute. I know we have to be careful with this because the adversary is real and cunning, but I can feel/discern when something is not worthwhile, and when I need to sift and find the treasures.
The second thing I learned was from the experience of a man whose sister died of a seizure. She had some kind of disease she had always struggled with, and finally died at a young age (23 I think). He had grown very close to her and had made her part of his life even though he was 12 years older, I think partly because he didn't know how long she would live. As a tribute to her he went to Pakistan to climb one of the most difficult mountains in the world (K2), and leave a necklace that had belonged to her at the top. There were complications and he did not make it to the summit. He said that for the first time he had discovered the limit of his physical strength. The title of the chapter was 'Failure'.
I thought about how in so many ways that experience was success, even and especially his failure to get to the summit of the mountain. First, he experienced what his sister had experienced her entire life- physical limits keeping her from doing things-good things, she wanted to do. That empathy was probably more valuable to both him and her than making it to the top of that mountain. Second, he was that much closer to figuring out that there is strength available for him, which he will need in this mortal journey. He was agnostic at this point, but knew there was something greater. I don't know what his beliefs are now, but I have a feeling that through other experiences he has realized that at times when he did not have the strength to accomplish something, there was a strength... not just a force, but a person who loves him, enabling him to accomplish that thing.
I realized in reading that chapter that some of our greatest successes in life, some of the greatest progress we make, come from our 'failures'. Those times when our strength isn't enough. And we sacrifice the the beautiful vistas we may have witnessed at the summit of the mountain for a glimpse of the eternal perspective of who we are becoming, how loved we are, and the treasures that await us. Sometimes at the moment of that sacrifice, sometimes years later, and sometimes I believe after this life we realize that the sacrifice was well worth it.
I love those moments when I realize that every moment of the difficulty was necessary and worth it, and that I wasn't alone.
