Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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A most astonishing thing in my opinion is the rescue of the Chilean minors from their
sepulcher deep in the desert. There is really something amazing about it. Today there are engineers, technicians, doctors, reporters from all over the world focused on this possibility. And the wives and relatives are there, waiting and not moving, on top of the San Jose Mine. San Jose, Saint Joseph, the patron saint of laborers and families.
The men are trapped in a gold and copper mine. They speak Spanish. Hundreds of years ago the Spanish government sent explorers and missionaries to western South America to convert the natives and mine the copper. This is ancient history.
The first important event in this story was the news that they are all alive. 33 men are alive in their tomb. Then communication was improved and supplies were sent down to them to keep them alive, messages were sent back up and delivered to family members. Now there is a tube with an escape capsule. By the time you read this it is expected that some or all of the men will have been plucked from hell into the land of the living.
I have been trying to follow this story as well as I can considering the location and lack of communication as far as radio and TV goes. But the majesty of the story involves the human spirit, not only of the trapped miners, but of the rescuers. People said if it is possible to make a miracle happen let's do it.
What is it that fascinates the world so much about this story? The rescue of the Pakistanis from their awful flood is a much bigger story. The ongoing dialogue between Israel and Palestine has global significance. And yet the world is focused on a small town in Chile and a hole in the ground from which 33 men who have been imprisoned in an earth bound dungeon for over two months are to emerge, one by one. And each one of them carries with him the reality of a resurrection, the overcoming of death. And for the men and women on top, in Camp Hope, there is no question of ought we or can we, the answer is, we must. King's question is being definitively answered by action.
In my mind this is a story that goes beyond, ingenuity, desire, optimism and courage. It's a not so simple matter of what one group of humans can do for another group of humans, with no further questions asked. It's apocalyptic.
DB - The Vagabond
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AUTUMN QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?
4 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
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3 comments:
This truly has been an amazing story and with a much different ending than we usually hear about when these disasters happen. I think it captures people's attention because it is new and there is hope. Floods happen all the time,only the country changes. The Israel and Palestine thing has been going on for time immemorial. No flicker of hope that anything is going to change there, but here, in Chile, there is hope and it has captured the attention of the world. I think we need to see things like this and know that miracles can happen. As the new slogan goes "together is amazing". So many individuals involved in this incident to get to where we are today with all coming up alive. All differences are put aside and there is only one focus -- to get them out alive.
And ask yourself what has your printer done for you?
I think it is that this has never been done before like this, especially when considering more than two months.
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