I have to confess that I have been glued to the trapped Chilean miner story. I prayed for their deliverance, and I have prayed for them after their rescue as well. I think one of the miner's had both his girlfriend and his wife show up for the rescue party. That guy really needs our prayers.
Their ordeal made me think: Could I survive down there without going mad? And as I thought on it, I began to realize that their situation was a great parable, which I will now share. Here it is, the parable of the miners:
There was once a group of miners in the country of Chile. They labored, day after day, in a mine that was over a half-mile deep in the earth. One day, the mine collapsed, burying the miners under 700,000 tons of earth. Though they were not crushed in the collapse, they had with them only 48 hours worth of food and water.
Those family and friends on the surface were filled with grief at the collapse of the mine, and they set about drilling to determine the fate of their loved ones. It took them seventeen days to drill a small hole to where the miners were at the time of the collapse. To their great joy and surprise, all of the miners were still alive. They had survived for seventeen days in a dark pit with only forty-eight hours of rations.
So think about this: how did they survive 17 days on 48 hours of rations, and what does this have to do with you?
If there is anyone around to discuss, we will. If there isn't, I'll just answer my own question tomorrow.
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Two Voices
12 years ago
2 comments:
Steven Cornelius says:
Good question, Brad. Did they plan immediately by limiting the rations to stretch the supply of food and water? If so, what did they have left by day 17? Did they find other sources, some of which we may not wish to discuss? Were they deeply religious (or did they become that during their ordeal)? Would I have been able to cope and stay sane? I really hope so, and I think the large group helps that. Sanity in perilous situations tends to come and go. So, you have to believe that at any given time, at least 1 person in the group would be in their right mind, keeping everyone grounded and focused on survival. Likewise, we as men have this competitive edge about us. No one would want to be the first one to crack under pressure.
What do you think?
It is given to you, O Steven, to know the mysteries of my attempts at parables. :)
I was thinking that the thing that kept them alive, against all hope, was the hope of rescue. The only possible reason for not going mad in that dark hole and rationing your meager supply of food is that you believe that you will be rescued. There, under 700,000 tons of earth, those men believed that someone would get them out. So they waited, rationed their food, and they hoped.
The parable comes in that we are trapped in this dark world, separated from God, and all sorts of evil befall us. The only way we survive is that we cling to the hope that God through Christ will rescue us and make all things new.
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