The Miracle in Chile

Amazing! I don't even know how to start this blog because I’m overwhelmed with joy and happiness for these miners. And I’m not the only one; twitter posts from celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Missey Elliot, Ryan Seacrest, and plenty more were exploding with joy of the rescues. Home pages on Facebook probably shared similar sentiments, and I’m sure many of you had discussions at home about the great news.

So if you've been keeping up with current events, you'd know that 33 Chilean miners were trapped in a mine for more than two months. Two whole months in the dark abyss of the earth! Thankfully with aid coming in from dozens of countries, they all are out tonight, alive, healthy, and I'm sure feeling very blessed. What amazes me is the remarkable story behind this entire effort. Our boys at NASA pitched in and made that pod, which brought all miners, one by one, to the top. Tons of volunteers from all over helped out. Furthermore, the Chilean prime minister was standing by these miners, from the very beginning of when news broke that they were found alive.

Something about this story is just so inspirational. The unity we see of everyone coming together for the common goal of rescuing these men is truly what the world needs right now. It's just sad that it often takes a tragedy, although this one had a happy ending, for people to realize the fragility of life and the importance of working together and helping each other out, regardless of our differences. What's also very cool about this story is that it brought people together in so many other ways, and I'm not just talking about those who were actually there to give aid and physically help in the recovery. I’m talking about us! Just think about how many people from all over the world were watching live footage of these miners reunite with loved ones at the same time. For a moment, we were all connected. It doesn't matter what language you speak, if you were watching the Spanish news stations, the Japanese stations, or the European stations. At that precise moment in which the first miner was pulled from the ground and saw daylight for the first time in months, and ran to hug his crying son who had missed him a lot, I'm sure we all felt a sense of overwhelming happiness, relief, and we probably shed some tears of joy for such a profound event. It was a universal experience that everyone who had heard of the situation and had seen it on TV, had now shared.

What a miracle! I'm pretty sure this will be a Hollywood film in the near future. The reality of what happened will be the talk for weeks, and its affect on everyone will go into the archives as one of the most inspirational moments of this decade.

This story truly shows the power of faith and hope. And while we bask in the beauty of this reunion of all 33 men, we shall also remember the countless other men who died in unfortunate mining accidents. For instance, just earlier this year in April, West Virginia had seen one of its worst mining disasters, with all 29 miners of the Performance coal company never making it alive.
The reality is that mining is one of the most dangerous jobs out there; these men risk their lives to travel thousands of feet below ground to bring up valuable, raw materials that power the planet and sustain life. There needs to be better safety systems to protect the lives of these miners so fatal accidents or trapped situations do not occur.