The rescue of the 33 coal miners in Chile will go down in history as the greatest news story of 2010 and no doubt we shall be reminded of it again next year when the film version hits the screens.
The rescue of the miners touched the hearts of people all over the world. The miners were trapped in darkness for 68 days whilst their friends and relatives on the surface were watching and praying expectantly. Experts from various countries worked out alternative routes to reach the imprisoned men and eventually a rescuer was able to be lowered down, and one by one, the men were brought to the surface to experience light and freedom.
The similarities with the Christmas story are too good to miss. It may be pushing the similarities too far to compare the watchful relatives with the shepherds or the rescue team with the wise men, but at the heart of the story are people in darkness being rescued by someone who came down to meet them and raise them up. Christianity has been described as a ‘down to earth religion’ because we believe that Jesus, lived on earth so as to raise us to heaven, and that through his teaching, death and resurrection a new age has dawned.
Those who have been down the Big Pit coal mine will know that visitors are asked to turn off their miner’s lamps to experience the impact of total darkness, and for those for whom light comes on at the flick of a switch, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the contrast between light and darkness although we get a glimpse of it at the Midnight Mass when in the darkness of the night we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World.
The Christmas message does not stop there. Christians are called to spread that light to others in word and action. Our Street Pastor volunteers spend hours on the streets at night befriending our young people. Tonight, the Newport Churches’ Night Shelter will be bringing homeless people in from the darkness to experience the warmth of human love and a bed and a hot meal. Maybe we have friends or neighbours this Christmas who are in darkness through loneliness, illness, bereavement or despair and for whom a visit, a small gift, or an invitation might be one way of sharing the Christmas light.
