In the past few hours our attention has been turned to the TV as we watched with clenched fingers and fists the first medic descend into the “tomb” of the Chilean mountain. Would the capsule arrive safely below? Would it continue to descend and ascend bringing the trapped miners to the surface without complications? As I sit writing this, the clock continues to move onward and with each passing hour one more miner has been released from his “tomb” where he has spent the last 69 days. The news media has been quiet on the reflections of these miners with the exception of one. Mario Sepulveda said “"I think I had extraordinary luck. I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God,". What a contrast to the recent debate between Christopher Hitchens, the avowed atheist who is battling life threatening cancer, and his brother Peter Hitchens, a strong born again believer. Christopher began his opening remarks with this comment: “civilization could survive without God and in many cases is surviving without God.”. The two men Mario and Christopher are the ultimate contrast. One is entombed in the earth for 69 days and meets God; one is entombed with cancer and rails against God. This reminds me of the two thieves on the cross on either side of our Savior, who is giving His life that both men may live. You know the story, the one railed and passed on into a Christ-less eternity and one sought forgiveness and was told “today you will be with Me in paradise”. Thus each man is given an opportunity to decide his destiny. The story does not change and neither does God. What an opportunity to share Christ with those about us as they marvel at this Chilean feat of retrieving the miners and give the glory to the intellectual marvels of machinery and yet in the midst of all of this one miner stands apart as saying this is a marvel of God alone. Think about it and pray that God allow you to share this story with an unbeliever today.
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