It is a moment of deep emotion and high technology. Part of the mine collapsed on the 5th of August trapping those inside and leaving them for 17 days wondering if they could be reached at all. They were 700 meters below the surface, the distance of seven football pitches lined up end to end. The technology involved in drilling a two foot wide hole that distance through solid rock strains the imagination.
As the first miner emerged the President of Chile called it a miracle. It was something wonderful. A rising from the dead. First there was the self-control of the miners who did not panic but organised themselves to do a variety of tasks each day to secure their own mental health and eventual rescue. Then there was the quiet patience of their families who kept vigil on the surface in the midst of the cold (at night) and barren Chilean desert for all that long time. Then there was the wholehearted commitment of the Chilean government to do everything possible, seeking help wherever it could be found, to rescue those men. And there were the engineers who thought through the whole task, working out every detail of the two month rescue effort. And finally there was the whole nation and indeed the whole world watching, fascinated by this extraordinary human drama and wanting, at least by our attention and our prayers, to do what we can to support the miners, their families and the engineers.
A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers (Luke 10:29) There are many vivid human parables going on around us each day. This one in Chile will surely lodge in our minds for a time. But I hope we can reflect on it. Thomas Aquinas once said, God does not will evil, far less cause it, but he allows it and this is good. The last three words need some explanation but looking at the disaster turned triumph in the desert of northern Chile one begins to understand.
Post published in: Opinions