Buried Alive - Almost!

Photo Courtesy of BBC News

In honor of 33 Chile miners and their families . . .

As one man after another emerged from a shaft in the dark earth and embraced his loved ones, we all choked back tears of joy.

Trapped so deep under bed-rock and then, against all hope, plucked from the grave - it must seem for them like being resurrected from death.

"Deep calls to deep", the poet wrote. Something deep within us connected us to these men and their families - the drama of rescue, the relief of not being buried alive. But there is something more. The human soul is a deep and mysterious like a gold-mine or a deep-water aquifer.

Hidden from view, deep below the surface, an aquifer stores enormous volumes of water – just like the deep purposes in the human heart.

Why we do what we do is often a mystery to ourselves and others. Deeply embedded purposes and beliefs, concerns, memories and fears shape our outlook and actions, our creativity, our decisions, our words -- sometime to great benefit and sometimes in ways that sting or wound others or ourselves.

Mario Gomez, 63, oldest of the miners, kneels to pray

Solomon observed that "the purposes of the heart are deep waters, but a wise person draws them out. (Proverbs 20:5)

Our motives run deep, Solomon says, but a wise person tunes in to these hidden impulses, probes them, digs them out and brings them to the surface.

God does not waste our experiences, positive or painful. They influence us but they need not bury us alive as victims. God transforms painful wounds – our failures and tragedies or the falsehoods we easily embrace. God’s healing goes deep if we are honest with God.

Our miners have escaped from a profoundly harrowing experience. Thankfully we saw them step out their rescue cage – like the phoenix into the sunlight. But what we could not see, still buried - but very alive - deep inside them are experiences and memories, regrets, triumphs and deep resolves that will shape their newly-minted lives.

I wonder ... how the deep waters they have been through will shape their decisions in the days and years ahead. Night-mare flash-backs may await them, but we can hope they are wise enough to mine the mother-lode, to explore the deep places of their soul and live freely in God’s wide earth.

All photos Courtesy of  BBC News