Mario Sepúlveda Espinace Returned Bearing Gifts

A makeshift altar near the mineshaft in Chile, cribbed from here

Obviously, we are all watching the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners–Operation San Lorenzo–and it is so moving and inspiring – a rare moment when the world can rejoice together. Heroes from all over the world have gathered and drilled as millions throughout the globe prayed and hoped, and then, finally, we watched that exquisite moment when the first miner to ascend, Florencio Ávalos Silva and his wife and son embraced. Chills.

And then, after a brief wait, the second miner emerges from the rescue capsule with great joy; he embraces his wife and then opens a bag to retrieve…gifts.

For others.

In the midst of all of this drama, all of the lights and excitement and concern, and at a moment when a man could reasonably be excused for thinking only of himself, Mario Sepulveda Espinace thought about others, and he brought them gifts.

Rocks? Rocks containing gold? It doesn’t matter. Mario Sepulveda Espinace crested the top of a hole from which he thought he might never escape, and his first instinct was to give. That’s a thing worth writing about, and thinking about and praying about. I wish I had a picture of that moment! How huge and resilient is the human spirit?

We were already witnessing something jaw-dropping and near-miraculous. And a man arose bearing gifts, and it got even better, for everyone in the world who was paying attention.

Wow. I’m so glad I didn’t go to bed after the first miner came out!

And I’m remembering this.

UPDATE:

I love this tweet: Rocks! Of course!…what presence of mind…and generosity of spirit…and sense of humor…and grace.

So right! And so well said.

I love this too:

“There are actually 34 of us,” the nineteen-year-old miner wrote in a letter sent up from the mine on Tuesday, “because God has never left us down here.” –Chilean miner, Jimmy Sanchez

UPDATE II: I was thinking this morning that if a fiction writer (or Hollywood) had tried to write this story, they could not have. First off, they’d probably turn it into a Lord of the Flies scenario, (or “Lost”) but even if they did not, they would be compelled (or encouraged) to omit much of the religious angle of the story, and then, would the story of 33 he-men types who don’t kill each other, who find a way to live peaceably and generously (and even with grace) while trapped below the earth ever find a publisher? Doubtful. This is a story that only real-life could tell, and if we’re really listening, we can learn a lot from it about how wrong we’re getting things up here above – in our values, our cynicism, our lowered expectations about everyone around us and everything. Lots to think about.

Deacon Greg: “What’s God got to do with it?”

Michelle Malkin links. Thank you!

“God and the devil fought over me, and God won!”

Also writing:
Hot Air
Sr. Lisa Doty
Gateway Pundit
Rome Reports
Daily Beast
BoingBoing
Wall Street Journal Liveblogging it
Blackfive
Sundries Shack