Deep, Down, Dark by Hector Tobar is the true story
about 33 men who were trapped in a mine in Chile (I highly recommend this book). The main entrance to the San Jose’ mine and
all avenues of escape were blocked by an enormous slab of rock the size of a
skyscraper. Realizing that they very
well might not come out alive, the men ask Henriquez, a man they called the
Pastor, to pray. Why did they ask him? The reason was simple. In their words “as soon as he opens his mouth
and begins to talk it’s clear that he knows how to speak of God and to
God.” Henriquez asks them to get on
their knees in a posture of humility before God and he prays. Soon men are asking God to forgive them for
their drunkenness, for cheating on their wives, for their tempers, and for the
way they have treated their children.
Praying together becomes a daily ritual, and after their times of prayer
they ask forgiveness from each other for their sharp words and unkindness’s. In mine disasters, as in fox holes, there are
no atheists. Men in times of crisis
faced with their mortality realize that they will have to answer to God.
It is hard to read a book
like Deep Down Dark and not think about
how I would react in a similar situation.
Would I, like Henriquez, be that solid godly man that others would turn
to? Do my co-workers see me as someone
who knows how to speak of God and to God?
Would I be able to confidently take them in prayer before God? Could I bring them hope day after day as
their meagre food supply of a few cans of tuna and a handful of cookies
dwindled to nothing? Could I stand firm
in faith as death stared me in the face?
God, help me, help us all, to be men and women like Henriquez.
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