From darkness to light

Worldwide media attention has been focussed over recent hours on the San Jose mine in Chile. 33 miners had been trapped some 2000 feet below ground since early August. Over the long days and weeks since a major rockfall prevented their return to the surface, anxious families and friends have been hoping and praying that rescue attempts would ultimately prove successful.

From the early hours of this morning, dramatic pictures have been beamed around the world as, one by one, the miners were, at long last, winched to safety in a metal capsule measuring just 24 inches in diameter. Church bells throughout the country were rung as the first miner reached the surface; great rejoicing and celebration has been taking place. The rescue procedure, however, is slow, and at the time of writing there are still some miners who have not yet been brought to the surface. Their loved ones wait in hope and expectation. Isn't it great to have a good news story such as this as an antidote to our usual news menu?

I have been thinking how closely this story parallels the heart of the Christian gospel. The theme of the journey "from darkness to light" runs throughout Scripture. Just as the once trapped miners have been given what could be described as a new beginning, so that is just what we are offered by Jesus. St Paul writes of how through faith in Jesus Christ we become, as it were “a new creation”, and Jesus himself speaks of the need to be “born again”. It is perhaps best summed up in the first verse and chorus of a hymn written by Charles H Gabriel:

In loving kindness Jesus came,
My soul in mercy to reclaim,
And from the depths of sin and shame
Through grace He lifted me.

Refrain
From sinking sand, He lifted me,
With tender hand, He lifted me,
From shades of night to planes of light,
O praise His name, He lifted me!

Just as the Chilean miners had the choice of whether or not to step into the capsule, so each one of us us given the choice whether or not to accept the offer of new life in Christ. The right choice is obvious, isn't it?

UPDATE: since publishing this blog yesterday, I have received an e-mail quoting the Chilean President's chaplain, Revd Alfredo Cooper. He says that it is clear that faith has been a big part of this whole drama, with many miners "finding God": "They're all wanting to testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. All 33 of them are saying that they found God in the mine. Five or six were already Christians and held services down in the mine. Many went down with no faith at all but they all say this: 'We were not 33 we were 34 because Jesus Christ was with us down there.'"