On July 10, 2018 the last of the 12 boys and their coach were freed from an impossible situation. Would be tears from tragedy, were turned into victorious sighs of relief and happiness.

The chances for their survival have been well documented throughout the media. I won’t repeat them here since that is not the point of my writing this essay.

In a nutshell this is what happened. A coach brought his football team to a cave, which is flooded during the monsoon season, as a “rite of passage.”. Since the monsoon season was a week away the coach figured, incorrectly, that they would be safe. Unfortunately, as they explored the inner parts of the cave complex, the rain began to fall. Soon the cave was flooded and they were unable to leave.

Experts from around the world traveled to Thailand to use their expertise and their technology to find them.

Technology from Israel, professional divers from the United Kingdom, Australia, China and the United States all volunteered their services to do whatever it took to save the team and their coach.

This was not a simple, swim in and swim out situation. Again, you can read the specifics across the media. This was a life risking mission for all involved.

Saman Gunan, 38, a former member of the Thai Navy SEALs, lost consciousness and died as he returned from putting air tanks in place. He had volunteered, selflessly to do what he can to save them.

Again, I am not here to tell you the story about what happened. In my mind, things happen in life and we must learn from them. So what is the lesson here? What is the point of my writing this?

My point is this – if the world can unite to save 13 people who were pretty much marked for death – why can’t the world unite to create a world where starvation, war and isolation no longer exists?

If one believes in a Higher power, a God or gods; most are agreed that humans have been given the option to pick and choose their own actions. If this is the case why not choose life? Is it for the need to be powerful? Is the goal to acquire as many material things that you can in your lifetime even though you can never take them with you once you die?

I know it goes much deeper than this and I am not naive to believe the ones in power will cede their power in order to improve the world. It’s also not as simple as I am making it out to be – but it’s also not as complicated as it seems.  

Feed the hungry, protect the abused and create mini-communities for the isolated so they can be educated and learn to do for themselves. Agriculture, medicine, industry, technology, etc. I know it’s not simple – but neither is starvation and disease.

Some people are praising the Lord for the rescue mission – that’s all well and good – but, it was the human freedom of choice which caused and which ended the ordeal.

If we praise the Lord for every situation such as this – who do we blame when human indifference or human violence steals the freedom and the life from millions of people around the world? Is God still in control then?

It’s easy to give full credit and blame to a Higher power – it’s imperative and the survival of the world depends on it –  for us to take responsibility to act when we can.

Nature will cause floods and droughts. Nature will bring freezing temperatures and scolding heat waves. Wind, rain, sleet and snow – mudslides, earthquakes and volcanoes. So do we lay down and simply give in to them? We created shelters. As technology progressed we created ways to heat and to cool our shelters to keep us in comfort. Do we sit back and say God in control and suffer from the elements?

When one can not see do they not wear corrective lenses?

I had a quadruple bypass in which they stopped my heart, took it out of my chest and cleaned out the valves that were clogged. Without that human ingenuity I, along with millions of others, would not be here today.

We were given this world.

What we do with it and each other is up to us.

Terrorism and hatred have been polluting our minds. Fear of war, death and destruction seem to always follow us around.

Yet, for this past 9 days the world has been united in their hopes and prayers.  

Millions of people throughout the world were elated and had an extra jump in their stride over the salvation of 13 people.

We must learn from this – we must learn from Saman Gunan and all the volunteers. We must be inspired by the prayers made in all different languages and directed at different  definitions of Higher Power. In the end, it comes down to humanity to save humanity. In my belief system God provides us with the tools – it’s up to us to use them to the best of our ability to help our fellow inhabitants of this world.