Rent Lost In The Amazon: The True Story Of Five Men And Their Desperate Battle for Survival

Synopsis

Lost is a resonant title for this direct, intense, true adventure story. Stephen Kirkpatrick is lost in his attempt to maintain closeness and trust in his post-divorce relationship with his three sons. Lost as an ex-husband in the painful aftermath of that broken marriage, and finally in a literal form, a photographer lost deep in the Amazon, who can only count one remaining possession -- his faith. What is faith, really, when everything else is gone? Is it a solace and anchor, sustaining hope? Stephen Kirkpatrick's story provides a case study for just that sort of faith. Not particularly liturgical, doctrinal or objective; it's an experiential faith that wavers, struggles and is almost lost completely at times, but like Kirkpatrick himself, it somehow holds on.

Kirkpatrick works freelance -- and one gets the impression that the world of freelance photography is as brutal and unforgiving as the jungle he plunges into. To sustain a career where there are no steady paychecks or benefit plans, it's necessary to keep going for the prize -- unique images, perhaps ones of wildlife never seen before. His spirit may be sustained by a higher faith, but the fulfillment of Kirkpatrick's earthly hopes would be more tangible -- a National Geographic cover. This need to find good material is so paramount it pushes Kirkpatrick's expedition to start out with questionable maps (a fact realized of course, only in retrospect), and with only a general idea of the route that will lead them to the planned pick-up point.

As things go wrong, and then very wrong, and eventually get worse, we see that Kirkpatrick takes the idea of journaling-as-therapy to heart. At one point he journals 'I still have faith. I'm praying and putting my trust in God. But I have to be realistic. Christians die just like everyone else.' This is essentially Kirkpatrick's central meditation -- the realization that faith is what sustains him, but always with the understanding that it gives no guarantee as to the outcome of the journey.--Ed Dobeas

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