Gracias Por La Esperanza

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. My apologies. And while I’m sure a parenting article would be the most ideal return, as I mentioned in my first post, from time to time, I need to just vent. And what good is a blog if not a place for venting. Surely, though, there’s a parenting lesson to be drawn from all things.

I’d like to take a minute to reflect on the lessons to be learned from the recent mining disaster and subsequent miracle in Chile.

Chile is an example of not only the birth and breeding of a miracle, but also a manufacturing of it. The formulation of which was organic and innate (the spirit and resiliency of the rescued men) but also designed and engineered by human ingenuity.

There are elements of this miracle that we as Americans could stand to learn, study, and hope to emulate in the face of our next disaster: Solidarity, commitment, faith, patience, humility, preparation, diligence, and a sense of responsibility.

In America, we tend to embrace a stance of being arrogantly nationalistic and anti-nationalistic at the same time and both to a fault. The arrogance leads us to think we have all the answers to all things right here within our borders, and in the midst of our most devastating national crises we often fail to seek knowledge from outside of our boundaries. The day we wise up to the fact that there is always something to be learned, is the day we will learn to be greater. Chilean authorities were humble and swift in their pursuit of knowledge and assistance and welcomed expertise from all stretches of the human race. We have lacked such humility in our responses to crises.

And yet, as arrogant we are about being citizens of the greatest nation, we greatly exhibit this air of anti-nationalism. The complaining that can be heard coast to coast from the right-wing extremists who “hope our country fails” and angry Tea-Party people who encourage treason, to left-wing extremists and the whining “professional left” who just seem to never be satiated. We’ve become a nation that does nothing but complains about who we are as a nation. Disgruntled is our default national posture. Chile’s greatest act of success in the face of the mine crisis was their solidarity. When emotionally weakened, they sang with pride and hope their National Anthem, the song that each of them has in common, despite all they may have in contrast. I’m sure the left and right extremists of their societies will, as they surely have before under different circumstances, fail to be as united, but in the face of national crisis, they acted as a national unit, in solidarity. In contrast, we began each of our nations most recent crises with divisiveness and more complaints. Since leaders can only lead, then at some point we will have to own up to the fact that our success as Americans only manifests when unify ourselves in the ranks behind them.

Chile is an example of how good leadership and good “followership” yielded a country of people who were well prepared, highly diligent, fully committed, and assumed responsibility. Faith and patience are personal ideals that each individual needs to strive for in the face of crisis, but are easier to achieve when held up on the pillars of the other principles that only exist where there is a sense of unity.

I’m sure Chilean citizens are feeling a healthy and well deserved sense of national pride and unity right now, probably just the opposite of the frustration, helplessness, anger and embarrassment we felt after our recent crises. The important lesson to be learned is that that pride and unity they feel is not just the result of the miracle, but largely a reason for the miracle.