“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” Ps. 90:12
An awful lot of “wisdom” came out of the mine with the rescued trapped miners in Chile. All of them were in a situation where every moment was forcing them to “number their days”, or as we might put it “recognise that their days were numbered”. Face to face with life or death there was no alternative but to take stock of life, and many “applied themselves to wisdom” (where “wisdom” in this context refers to God and his ways).
One of the miners, the grandfather miner (63), simply said on his return to the surface, “Sometimes you need something to happen in your life to really reflect and understand that we only have one life. I am a different person”. His first intent was to give his wife of thirty years standing what she had always wanted – a wedding dress and a marriage in church. He had changed – he had a new and deeper respect for life, for his loved ones and for God.
He was not the only one who felt a deeper soberness about life. Another miner was impressed in a very similar manner and on his return knelt down, crossed himself and then told his girlfriend of twenty five years “we’ll buy you a wedding dress and get married in church”. Yet another miner received a marriage proposal from his girl friend with whom he has daughters and they will get married straight away. Such painfully gained sobriety is all to the good. It is “wisdom”. It is learning the real measure of life. It contrasts vividly with the comments of the editor of the Times who in his editorial comment seems to have felt obliged (as the media generally is) to include only a somewhat sordid sexual reference to another miner’s wife.
Interestingly in the background to the Chilean story we hear of Jose Henriquez who was the drill master and became the spiritual leader of the trapped group; he led prayers and boosted spirits. We hear also that among the “liberty kit” sent down to the trapped men was a T-shirt with the slogan “Thank you Lord, because nothing is impossible with God”. These were sent down by the “Jesus Film Project”, along with a copy of the film of the Life of Jesus for the men to watch. The second miner out, wearing his Jesus T-shirt said, “I never doubted I would get out alive. God and the Devil fought for me, and God decided to save me”. He also said he had “buried 40 years of my life in the cavern”, which one hopes was a remark indicating a new kind of wiser life.
Catastrophe, therefore, does not always end in disaster and death. It can create a focus we too often lack. It can end in powerful and positive amendment of life. When we look at impending catastrophes on a wider scale, in national affairs and in the economy in particular, we can only pray that for a great many people some wisdom, sobriety and renewal will emerge even from them. That is God’s intent and desire.
Bob
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An awful lot of “wisdom” came out of the mine with the rescued trapped miners in Chile. All of them were in a situation where every moment was forcing them to “number their days”, or as we might put it “recognise that their days were numbered”. Face to face with life or death there was no alternative but to take stock of life, and many “applied themselves to wisdom” (where “wisdom” in this context refers to God and his ways).
One of the miners, the grandfather miner (63), simply said on his return to the surface, “Sometimes you need something to happen in your life to really reflect and understand that we only have one life. I am a different person”. His first intent was to give his wife of thirty years standing what she had always wanted – a wedding dress and a marriage in church. He had changed – he had a new and deeper respect for life, for his loved ones and for God.
He was not the only one who felt a deeper soberness about life. Another miner was impressed in a very similar manner and on his return knelt down, crossed himself and then told his girlfriend of twenty five years “we’ll buy you a wedding dress and get married in church”. Yet another miner received a marriage proposal from his girl friend with whom he has daughters and they will get married straight away. Such painfully gained sobriety is all to the good. It is “wisdom”. It is learning the real measure of life. It contrasts vividly with the comments of the editor of the Times who in his editorial comment seems to have felt obliged (as the media generally is) to include only a somewhat sordid sexual reference to another miner’s wife.
Interestingly in the background to the Chilean story we hear of Jose Henriquez who was the drill master and became the spiritual leader of the trapped group; he led prayers and boosted spirits. We hear also that among the “liberty kit” sent down to the trapped men was a T-shirt with the slogan “Thank you Lord, because nothing is impossible with God”. These were sent down by the “Jesus Film Project”, along with a copy of the film of the Life of Jesus for the men to watch. The second miner out, wearing his Jesus T-shirt said, “I never doubted I would get out alive. God and the Devil fought for me, and God decided to save me”. He also said he had “buried 40 years of my life in the cavern”, which one hopes was a remark indicating a new kind of wiser life.
Catastrophe, therefore, does not always end in disaster and death. It can create a focus we too often lack. It can end in powerful and positive amendment of life. When we look at impending catastrophes on a wider scale, in national affairs and in the economy in particular, we can only pray that for a great many people some wisdom, sobriety and renewal will emerge even from them. That is God’s intent and desire.
Bob
To make a comment: click on word “comments” below, write your comment in the white box which appears and add your name and e mail address (if you wish), choose “select profile”, click “anonymous” and then continue.
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