Miner Details... Major Events

Just before 10:00 PM last night, I got to watch (along with how many others?) as the last trapped miner in the San Jose Mine, Chili reached the surface joining his rescuers and anxious family members. After more than two months underground, including more than two weeks during which they were feared dead, the last miner emerged from under 2,000 feet of rock ending the longest underground entrapment in human history.

The mine disaster took place August 5th. On August 22nd a narrow bore hole broke through to their refuge and the buried miners surprised the world with a note, scrawled on a piece of paper - they were all alive!

This week, 69 days after the collapse of the mine, following several weeks of preparation and drilling, it took just over 22 hours for the 33 men to be brought to the surface. What a spectacle to watch as one after another these 33 men were rescued from the grave.

One of the interesting things about all of this is the great number of personal stories that are coming to light with the miners. Among some of the first to be rescued was the youngest, Jimmy Sanchez at only 19 years of age. He told the world that he kept his spirits up by thinking about his two month old baby daughter Barbara. Two hours later, the 9th man to be rescued, was the oldest, Mario Gomez, 63, the most experienced of the group who began work as a miner when he was only 12 years old. He is now on antibiotics for a lung disease common to miners. He dropped to his knees after he emerged and bowed his head and prayed.

Luis Alberto Urzua, the shift foreman was the last miner to be rescued. Luis is the eldest son of a large family that grew up without a father. The other men call him ‘the boss’ and he is credited with helping his men endure the initial 17 days in isolation without any contact with the world of the living.

There will undoubtedly be many more individual stories emerging onto the world stage in the weeks, months and years to come; stories of bravery, resolve, leadership, faith and so many other aspects of humanity will continue to surface long after the miners.

All of these men had their own personal stories before this greater story began to unfold. But it is this greater story that has brought all of their stories together, connecting them and bringing a whole new sense of significance to each of their lives. The greater story has become the context for all of their personal stories.

All of this has served to remind me once again that all of life is really about God’s greater story. It too is a story of rescue, of burial and new life. And all of our stories are really a part of God’s greater story. And it is only as we see our lives fitting into God’s greater story that our lives suddenly take on their true significance.

“Our deepest problem is that we seek to find our identity outside the story of redemption… lasting change begins when our identity, purpose and sense of direction are defined by God’s story.” Paul David Tripp