As I see #ClimateGrief taking hold of people around me, I often think of 33 miners who got trapped hundreds of meters underground for over 2 months when their mine collapsed due to negligence somewhere in Chile.
When realising that they had no radio contact, no medical supplies, and hardly any food, one of the miners, overwhelmed by despair, tried to commit suicide but luckily, he was saved by a friend.
In the heroic rescue effort that followed, people over and underground clung to hope. People overground decided to achieve the impossible despite not knowing whether the miners were actually dead or alive.
And the miners underground clung to hope and exercised incredible discipline whilst initially not knowing whether anyone would even attempt their rescue (the owner of the mine didn't).
It is because of this obstinate against-all-odds hope that after over two months all 33 men were rescued.
The thought of the miner who had wanted to give up BEFORE it was over always stayed with me. What an incredible tragedy it would have been had he succeeded in taking his life before being saved.
What saved these men was SHEER and pure hope, i.e. hope that is not measured by facts and the likelihood of a good outcome.
Instead, it was PURE hope, hope for hope's sake.
You could call it blind hope.
Hope as a moral decision, as a discipline which then was the foundation for superhuman strength and perseverance.
True hope and optimism that literally move mountains have got NOTHING to do with facts.
Instead, it's something we find within ourselves. And it is in times of crisis, that we are challenged and that we DO find this incredible and uniquely human dimension and power within.
It seems to me that right now, with our world literally on fire, it is time for this kind of hope - and discipline and hard work.
Blind hope against all odds that moves mountains: i.e. corporate interests, fossil fuel industries, self-serving politicians, and especially public lethargy and desperate passive fatalism.
The time to give up and surrender is the moment we die.
And NOT one second before!
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