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Hope Runs Deep: The Human Spirit's Indomitability Manifest in Chile

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The state of human affairs over the past decade have overall not been taking a turn for the better. War, violence, scandal, shallow gossip, tragedy, and other profit-generating stories congest newspaper headlines and the nightly broadcasts. With the recent economic crises, things aren't looking up, either. As the human population on Earth grows ever so nearer to the carrying capacity, humanity as a whole seems to be taking a downhill swerve...

...or is it?

There is at least 1 or 2 in 10 people out there who have heard about the recent story regarding the Chilean miners. Being trapped for at least 15 days underground about 2 months ago, almost no one was sure that they were going to survive. The lack of oxygen, food, and water would surely deprive them of life if the toxic gases, ash, soot, and dust didn't choke them to death first. Around the world, many people watched and, when news of them still being alive 17 agonizing days after the entrapment surfaced ("All 33 of us are fine in the shelter" [1]), prayed for their safety.

Today, on October 13, 2010, hope reached the surface. Flipping the news to BBC, the headline rolled out as follows:
The first 17 of 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months in northern Chile have been winched to the surface amid scenes of jubilation.
Deacon Keith Fournier of the Catholic Online International had an interesting perspective on the issue, and one which I agree with on the basis of hope and faith in God in the face of adversity if not his Catholic evangelism. He wrote that the event was fateful in that it was
as though it were all planned to inspire a global community enmeshed in cynicism, despair and fatigue. These 33 miners, trapped in the womb of the earth since August 5, 2010, began to emerge, one by one, before the eyes of one billion people throughout the world. The best of humanity contending with what has seemed for so many as the worst of times; and goodness, faith, hope, love, virtue, human ingenuity and collaboration won the day. The events in the Chilean desert have already had an extraordinary impact. [2]
Even I admit that I had my initial cynicism, not knowing how long the miners were stuck for, and the impact it had on their well-being. There is no doubt that what happened - nothing short of life and death hanging in the balance, as well as their faith being put to the test - will change the lives of the miners and their families. It may also be optimistic - perhaps too optimistic - for one to assume that this will change the lives of many people in Chile and the world over, and I'd like to think it will.

Unsurprisingly, so does the good Deacon Fournier. It seems that no matter how bad your life is at the moment, there is always someone going through much more of a hell than you are, and that hope does run deep even to them. The Deacon writes that
[in] an age where it seemed like men and women had forgotten God, clearly, God has not forgotten us. We, along with all of those miners and their families, have been given a fresh start and an invitation to begin again.
Clinging to life with their faith in God, they saw the fruits of the seeds they have sown and are now ready to sow more the world over.

Discouraging, however, is the scene on the net. While a lot of people follow this in earnest, others continue with their daily lives and miss on a rare opportunity to see that the human spirit is truly indomitable; that compassion knows no socioeconomic, political, religious, or racial boundaries; that human wealth pales to human dignity; that the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity, no matter how disparate and divided, truly exists if we seek it ourselves; and that solidarity with those who don't have anyone to turn to can truly make this world a better place. I like to conclude with a quotation in the same article by Deacon Fournier:
Miner Mario Sepulveda speaking to the International Press put it so simply, "I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God." Now, it is our turn to do the reaching.
Amen to that.

Salaam, from Saracen
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