A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an e-mail raving about a book she had just finished. That book was Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. I had just seen that this book was the first one chosen for my city's new "Huntington Beach Reads One Book" program. So I took the hints, got myself a copy and started reading this fascinating tale.
I won't go into all the details, as gmoke has some excellent diaries on the book here and here. In short, though, it covers the story of a man who unintentionally wound up in a remote Pakistani village, and found himself committing to building a school for the children there. From that small beginning, he grew to know the people of the region and went on to build dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a specific focus on the education of girls. As he notes, when you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But when you educate a girl, you educate a community.
The book itself was powerful, but what inspired me further was the turnout of people who came to hear him speak. In city after city, Mortenson is drawing crowds of people with whom the book's messages of peace through education have resonated. Huntington Beach tonight was no exception.
Greg told a story about the publication of the book that meshes well with my perception of where our country is and where it has the potential to go. As he explained, he himself came up with the title, "Three Cups of Tea". It's based on the tradition that when you develop relationships in the region, you get to know people over tea. During the first cup, you are strangers; after the second cup you are friends, and after the third you are family.
The publisher, however, chose the subtitle, and insisted that it be "One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism...One School At A Time". Greg relayed that he wanted it to be "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School At A Time". But the publisher wouldn't budge. So he struck a deal: if the hardcover edition of the book didn't sell well, the subtitle would change. It sold a weak 20,000 copies in hardcover, and so when the paperback came out, "terrorism" was replaced with "peace". When it came to sales, peace won handily, as the softcover has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 54 weeks.
The message that Greg wanted the audience to take home is that fighting terrorism is rooted in fear. And promoting peace is based upon hope. The act of building these schools can be viewed from two entirely different perspectives - but only one works toward a long-term goal. Fighting fear may give us a feeling of security in the short-term, but it turns us inward and away from the world.
Whether it's building schools in Pakistan or casting a vote in the presidential primaries, you can see the same principles at work this year. People are tired of fear, and tired of fighting a concept. Instead, most Americans - as most Pakistanis and Afghanis - are people who want peace with others. They want leaders who can guide them there. And when you contrast the Democratic candidates with the Republican ones, you really can't see a more striking difference.
Hope - just a platitude? Sorry Mr. McCain. We still face very real threats to our nation. But if the crowd gathered at Huntington Beach High School tonight was any indication, our country is ready to choose hope over fear in confronting those challenges.
You can learn more about Mortenson's Central Asia Institute by visiting their website.