Hardly anyone of the millions who heard or watched the rescue of the Chilean miners who were trapped 700 meters underground for sixty-nine days, will ever forget the complete fascination and anticipation that kept us glued to our TV screens in 2005. Yet this was only the dramatic conclusion to a greater, bolder, courageous, personal drama that had been unfolding for months earlier — half a mile below the surface in the Chilean Mountains.
Thirty-three miners had
been trapped in the San José copper mine in Copiapó, Chile for 17 days and none
of them had heard a word about their fate. Somewhere, somehow, in those first
17 days, someone initiated the idea and convinced the others that their desperate
situation was not hopeless. It is the miners code that no matter the cause of
the entrapment, and regardless of how long it may take, or how great the cost
or effort, those above will come and find them, dead or alive. All the buried men
had to do was muster the means and will to stay alive until they were
found.
No doubt there was
contention and arguing at first between those miners who were convinced and
those who doubted. But in the end, we know they all agreed. They agreed to
share their water, their food, and the batteries in their lights which were
only intended to last 48 hours. All knew that on their own as individuals,
there was no hope any one could make it. But if they were willing to share and
work together, there was a slim hope they could all make it out together.
As they began to organize
themselves, their thinking began to shift. Instead of just thinking about the
problem, they began to allow themselves to consider and plan for a future. They
began to think about what would happen if they actually survived!. They would
imagine themselves being cheered and greeted by their family, friends and the
news media around the world. Slowly but surely the feelings of hopelessness
were replaced by a concern for their other miners and their families. That
faint flickering flame of hope was being fanned and embellished each time they
thought of their future instead of their present condition.
Each man was given an
immediate responsibility. One was made responsible for the food supply and to
insure each ate something three times a day. Another with First Aid experience
was made the official “ Doctor”. Still another was assigned to keep a daily
journal and to encourage the others to add to it. As their lives began to take
on a structured feeling again, they began to encourage each other to pull
together and hope together.
Can you imagine the moment
when a pipe was pushed into their isolation? Contact from those on the surface,
along with fresh air, water, food and supplies coming down the pipe. The
greatest thing they received when that pipe broke through their dark hole was
hope. Now they knew they were no longer alone. They knew someone was working to
save them. They didn’t know how it was going to work, but somehow, somewhere,
someone up there had a plan to save them, something they painfully understood,
they could not do for themselves.
They were right. A plan had
been put in place to rescue them one at a time. A capsule, just big enough to
carry one man, but small enough to slide down the bore hole, could bring them
back from the dead to the living again. Yet the first capsuled lowered to the
waiting miners did no go down empty. In it was its creative engineer who felt
he personally had to go down to show his faith that the capsule functioned
correctly and to be there so others would know how it was done.
This is where the TV worldwide coverage had picked up the events that we had all watched.
Included were skilled technicians and ground crews from many countries around the world, the Presidents of Chile and Peru, and planners from N.A.S.A. Also waiting and cheering were family members and friends, who had camped in a makeshift village while keeping a candle light vigil and hope alive until their loved ones were safely back with them. As the miners came up, one by one, from the bowels of the earth, they were embraced in the arms of their loved ones and we all shouted and wept for joy.
How much like the miners we
sometimes feel when we are in a dark hole, where we fear there is no hope or
way out. We have nothing but a small flickering light and limited reserves that
are about to expire. We may have even felt such self-pity that we thought no
one really cared if we lived or died.
Yet, high above us, there
is a plan in operation to bring us safely out, if we will just do everything in
our power to hold on until the rescue party comes and shows us how. That rescue
party is Christ and his Church. It has come. The Savior personally came down to
earth to show us how it’s done.
Have faith, reach out and
climb into the rescue capsule. Christ promises us, if we do so, he will bring
us back home to our loved ones.
Note: THE 33 is a movie that has been made about these courageous men and their remarkable rescue.
Doug Garrett
