God Bless Chile

The Big Story this morning is one of hopes realized, patience rewarded, and courage personified.

 

After 70-days a half-mile below the surface of the earth, the first ten Chilean miners have been hoisted to the surface in a tiny escape pod, dubbed “Phoenix.”

 

The live feeds on the internet and TV have been mesmerizing. The joy that erupts on the surface as each entombed miner is released from the pod is palpable, even through the video screen. It is truly a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving, and not just in Chile.

 

The world needs a good story like this to take our minds off the dreariness and dread of soured economies, dashed retirement plans, and mud-slinging politicians. The world needs an antidote for the sadness and anxiety, and the Chileans have provided this much-needed diversion for media addicts.

 

So what happens after the 33rd Miner is retrieved, and the rescuers are all pulled safely back to the surface? Life will go on in Chile. Life will go on in the United States. Tomorrow we will awaken to the same drudgery of high unemployment, embarrassingly low interest rates, and a shallow pool of options with which to solve these problems.

 

The Chilean Miners’ rescue gives us all a glimpse of the kind of success that we can look forward to with patience, determination, focus and planning, whether it’s plucking 33 trapped miners from a hole in the ground a half-mile deep, or steering the national well-being back to acceptable levels from our own deep economic hole. Perhaps that's the best lesson for us all, from the mountainous country half a world away from the U.S.: 
Steady and slow saves the day.