"Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le," a popular Chilean expression of celebration, came the miners' cry rising from the depths of the earth and the depths of the human spirit. Not one life was lost among 33 rescued miners, trapped longer and deeper than any miner ever to survive a cave-in.

As the eyes of the world fixed on the rescue mission at a camp called Hope in the midst of a wasteland, there seemed to be two ways to view the story. Either the world was witness to a miraculous answer to prayer or we had seen a triumph of human ingenuity, spirit and will.

Pick your story line, and there was evidence to make your case. Some miners emerged from the pit to kneel and thank God. For this way of seeing the story, we have miner Mario Sepulveda, who surfaced to say, "I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought, and God won."

 According to CNN, Sepulveda said that he had grabbed the hand of God and then never entertained another doubt that rescue would come.

You also can point to 63-year-old Mario Gomez, a miner for 51 years who became the men's spiritual leader, led prayers and requested statues to create a shrine as a centre for devotion in their efficiency-apartment-sized living area. If you are looking for a miracle, Sepulveda, Gomez and other miners will share your conclusion.

On the other hand, no bolt of lightning struck the earth freeing the trapped men. It was the skill of miners above, blasting through rock to reach the men, that led to their release from the stone sepulcher. From NASA engineers to Pennsylvania miners who had used a similar rescue vehicle, there was a mountain of human knowledge being set to the task of bringing "Los 33" home safe.

While one group considered issues of drill bits, another looked to rescue vehicles and still others considered in detail issues of diet and exercise. This was an Apollo 13-like story playing in real time on television over the 52 days since contact first was made with the men.

Yet this is not a case of either miracle or triumph of humanity. This is a story of a miraculous triumph of the human spirit – men keeping the flame of hope kindled through 17 days imprisoned under 700,000 tonnes of rock, more cut off from the rest of the world than imaginable, until a 3.2-inch-wide hole reconnected them.

That tenuous connection became more powerful than anyone could have expected. The 20-minute trip up or down the narrow shaft became a conduit for the Pope to send Bibles and rosaries and news of prayers from the Vatican.

The same narrow shaft provided us with a view of the miners and gave them a window on the world, including the birth of Esparanza (meaning "Hope"), daughter of trapped miner Ariel Ticona.

The men already had reported feeling God's presence in the hot, dark, mine. This tiny tunnel to the surface connected them with the hopes and prayers of a world gripped by their plight.

Our faith in Jesus does not mean that we carry a get-out-of-tragedy-free card with us. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Cave-ins occur or don't based on physics, not the whims of the Almighty.

What our faith provides us is a connection to God, come what may. It is the assurance that, while we trust God to provide rescue, we know if God does not we still will be fine, for whether we live or we die, we belong to God.

As the miners move into the light of the media spotlight, we see the miracle of 33 men not losing hope when a rational look alone gave every cause for despair. They held on to their sanity and their humanity, many of them have said, by a light that still shone in their hearts even in the dense darkness of the mine.

This faith supported "Los 33" and their families as others put their God-given gifts to work to rescue the men. As we watched them emerge from darkness, we were seeing a true miracle, yet a miracle made manifest by the talents and energy of the rescuers combined with the faith the miners found to fan the flames of hope within.

-- The Rev. Canon Frank Logue is Canon for Congregational Ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.