Miracle at Camp Hope

When I got up this morning, I turned on "Despierta América," a Spanish-language program on the Univision television network, who were carrying the story live and non-stop (except for ads).

Mario Gómez, the ninth miner resurrected from the San José mine/tomb, waved and kissed the Chilean flag, was examined by doctors, kissed his wife Lilianett, and knelt to offer a prayer of thanks to God.
 
I found myself shedding tears, and I wondered why.

• Maybe they were tears of joy: I rejoice with the rest of the world at the "milagro" at Campamento Esperanza. 
• Maybe they were tears of identification: "There but for the grace of God..." The oldest of the men in the mine, Gómez is 63 years old, as am I. 
• Maybe they were tears of a more complex nature: I felt them brimming when the Spanish-speaking announcer said that Gómez entered the mines at age 12, after his father died and he was left to care for his family. I've learned that he's lost three fingers on his left hand to mining. His position in the rescue cue was partly determined by his silicosis, the miner's lung disease. "There but for the grace of God..."

As we celebrate, can we also look deeper? I wonder if these days of joy will make a difference in the way I live my life?

--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor

PS: I stop my blog at that point because I hate it when people turn news events into lobbying against their own particular view of what's wrong with the world. I don't want to be like a TV preacher who makes this a parable of sin and salvation. But to myself, I'm wondering: Do I have neighbors in Mount Kisco who are trapped here, far from home, because economic crises forced them onto a path they would not have chosen?