It’s shortly after 9 p.m. in New York, and the last of the trapped Chilean miners – Luis Alberto Urzua – has just emerged from the half-mile-deep hole that nearly became a tomb for him and 32 co-workers. Every ten minutes or so, the rescue capsule has surfaced, the crowd has broken into jubilant cheers and song, and a billion TV viewers around the world have greeted yet another survivor of a 69-day vigil that had elicited the prayers of the world. This scene was repeated 33 times, and yet it never grew old. We wouldn’t mind seeing the capsule go up and down, and survivors emerge each time, in a loop that ran for a week. It’s been a long time since truly good news – great news! – dominated the airwaves.
For each miner, there is a story to tell, and we will be hearing those stories in the weeks and months ahead. One emerged from the capsule a great-grandfather for the fourth time, while another found the welcoming embrace of his pregnant wife. Yet another who had arranged to have his mistress on hand found that his wife was not. A Chilean flag hung in front of the rescue shaft, a curtain to obscure video coverage if something went wrong. But nothing did. A 30-second delay for TV coverage was planned but never implemented. “The rescue operation was so marvelous that there was no reason not to allow the eyes of the world” to see it, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera told a Fox network reporter.
Savor the News
The world should salute the rescuers and savor the news. Never before has a human being survived after being trapped underground for so long. For the first 17 days the miners were buried, no one even thought they were alive. And yet, they all appeared healthier than we might have expected, and some were even freshly shaven. The miners hung together, buttressing each other against fear and panic, against despair, and, finally, against the terrifying encroachment of death. Their survival will endure as testimony to the indomitable spirit of humankind.
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I suppose I conveyed the wrong message. I thought as a group we could put aside some money for others. I asked Rick because it’s his site and there are a lot of people here and our combined money could actually do something. Afterwards, I thought, well … Rick would have to set up a foundation, etc. And as Robert pointed out, it came across terribly.