The lingering danger of mass death in some threatened catastrophe anywhere around the globe always attracts the anxious attention of people worldwide.
Just such a situation occurred at the San Jose mine in the South American nation of Chile, where 33 miners were trapped for 69 days underground before the first individual rescue was successful.
This week, rescuers who had managed to construct an escape shaft began bringing the miners – one by one – to the surface in a carefully constructed “capsule.”
This was reported to have been the longest such underground survival and escape – more than two months!
Who above ground can imagine the miners’ emotions as they suffered catastrophic entrapment and then enjoyed fresh air and freedom?
It took about 14 to 16 minutes for each trapped miner to be brought to the surface – about a day and a half to get all of the miners out!
Some with medical problems were “first.” Amazingly, it was reported that several of the miners competed for the choice to be the “last” lifted out to safety.
The shift foreman, Luis Urzua, insisted upon being the last.
What will be the physical and psychological conditions of these miners as a result of their terrible underground circumstances?
Can you imagine the anxiety of their family members as they waited above ground for each miner to come up?
When so many people worldwide wish and pray for the best for people they have never known, contrast that good will with the evil that many people worldwide inflict so unnecessarily – even purposefully – upon so many people in expressions of “man’s inhumanity to man.”
Just think what kind of world we would have if the good will of those who have prayed for the trapped miners’ escape prevailed worldwide – and if there were no intentional enmity and evil among us all.