The Miners' Ascent

Psalm 130 is aptly called: A Song of Ascents. But never before did the psalmist's preamble ring so true. For this was literally an ascent the whole world shared.

"From out of the depths I call to you..."

From half-a-mile down, entombed in solid rock, held close in the tunneled underground of earth, the miners' plight called out to the world, and the world, led by the remarkable team of Chileans, responded.

"My soul waits for you as eagerly as the watchmen wait for the dawn."

As the miners waited for us, so we waited for them.

Who didn't - at some time over the past two months - stop in the midst of laughing or shopping or eating or walking or just feeling the sun on their skin and think, "But they are still down there!"

The rescue of the Chilean miners was, quite frankly, awesome.

Beginning with the moment after the collapse through the moment of freedom (and no doubt the continuing task of healing), the rescue represented the best of hope, generosity, persistence, planning, creativity, technology, and spirited resilience.

Whether the collapse was caused by negligence, greed, oversight, dereliction or bad luck is yet to be learned, and whether anyone is culpable is still to be investigated. That is tomorrow's task. Today we celebrate.

The leadership, the discipline, the fortitude, the compassion were inspiring.

Along with the extraordinary organization that the Chilean rescue team exhibited, people and companies from around the world vied for and delighted in helping: a special drill bit came from Canada; underwear and video equipment from Japan; rescue capsule designed by NASA; drilling bits and rig from Pennsylvania; rescue cable from Germany. And no doubt this is just the beginning of the story that has yet to be fully discovered and told.

It is too early to tell what painful scars or celebrated memories will stay with the miners, their families, the thousands who guided and worked on the rescue, the brave medics who voluntarily descended into the chamber, the millions who prayed and watched, the government officials. It is too early to know how the story will be re-told by the media, the filmmakers, the authors, the storytellers who are all no doubt lining up for the rights to get a piece of the tale.

But short of aliens coming down and attacking Earth, this concentrated drama has united the world in a rare moment of shared exertion, daring, hope and salvation. It has reminded us how fragile is our existence, how precious each breath, how similar we all are, how reliant we are on each other and how dependent we are on the comings-and-goings of the most basic elements life.

This drama has also caused us, once again, to wonder about what we do to underside of earth.

In mucking about below earlier this year, we caused the Gulf to spew forth its bounty from the Deep in a grotesquely gluttonous way.

In mucking about below this time, we caused the mine to swallow up in the Deep what is most precious to us in an equally grotesque way.

After we celebrate the glories and heroism of this moment, and there are many, after the dust settles and the miners go home, and we return to the quiet drama of our daily lives, we will need to ask: What have we learned about the price we pay for the way we choose to live?