A Reflection on "Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors", by Piers Paul Read

Certainly their quarrels were never serious when compared to the strong bond of their common purpose. Especially when they prayed together at night they felt an almost mystical solidarity, not only among themselves, but with God. They had called to Him in their need and now felt him close at hand. Some had even come to see the avalanche as a miracle which had provided them with more food.
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Ch 5

The reason why the other fifteen survivors looked askance at Parrado’s return to the kind of life he had led before was that they themselves had a more elevated – almost mystical – concept of their experience…that they were the beneficiaries of a miracle. Delgado considered that to have lived through the accident, the avalanche, and the weeks that followed could be ascribed to the hand of God, but that the expedition was more a manifestation of human courage. (Some of the survivors) felt that God played a fundamental role in their survival…(Others) were more inclined to believe in all modesty that their survival and escape could be ascribed to their own efforts…
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Ch 15, page 344

As I read the book I saw how acutely the Big Questions get addressed when you face a faith-wrenching experience like the one in the Andes. Most of those on the Fairchild had backgrounds in Roman Catholic education; and, regardless of their individual state of grace at the time of the crash, they brought to the crash site a belief in Christ’s promise to “be with (them), even unto the ends of the earth.”

I have never, thankfully, faced something I would consider a crisis. I have not lost a close family member, nor faced the trial of a long, drawn-out illness. I have not caught myself in any real way trying to make deals with God. Despite that I tend to be more pessimistic than I would like to be. I constantly fear what John Irving’s Garp called the “Undertoad” – that foreboding that something tragic is imminent. I try not to jinx my good fortune by writing about it, or dwelling on it, other than to quietly acknowledge its blessing, and to offer a little prayer of thanks.

I have, however, seen people face tragedy. More often than not, they seem to profess a stronger faith in God as a result of the crisis. I have to admit that for many years I found that unfathomable, steeped as I was in believing that God was omnipotent and providential. As such, he was at best capable of preventing those tragedies, at worst responsible for them. I was uncomfortable with the idea that these events were part of some grander story; one that may not unfold immediately, and may be beyond our comprehension, but ultimately was good and just. In fact, it was best not to question these events, but rather to rely on the Apostle Paul’s observation to the Rome church that “all things work together for good for those called to Christ’s purpose.”

These boys faced the horror of sudden death of some of their mates, and slower, agonizing deaths for others. They prayed the Rosary together, and then watched the one leading the prayer weaken and die. Their hopes continually crashed with a blunt force equal to that of the wreck. They were left with little choice but to eat the flesh and entrails of their friends. And yet, many described their 70-day experience as “mystical”. No one seemed ready to throw in their hat with Job’s wife – to curse God and die.

In fact, as the cited passage describes, many saw the hand of God at work in their individual survival. For them, it seems God was not responsible for the suffering and death of the victims but rather was the Force that kept them from the same fate.

It is interesting that the show of religiosity and faith was centered among the most invalid of the survivors. Is it fair to say that those who were weakest felt the greatest need to rely on God? Parrado and the other expeditionaries were the strongest, and seemed the least inclined to attribute their survival to God. Delgado’s observation that while Grace worked among those at the plane the expedition was a “manifestation of human courage” acutely captures the religion of many today: We need only rely on God when we cannot do it ourselves.

I struggle with that notion. I tend to no longer see events as segments of some pre-ordained whole. We have responsibilities, and free wills to carry them out. There are random events that in themselves are neither good nor evil, but nevertheless result in tragedy. There are things I can guard against, and things I cannot. If I submit to that worldview, is it hypocritical to run to God when I become overwhelmed and am no longer strong enough to do it myself? That’s to say, is it okay to ask for God’s protection for my 16 year-old when he is driving, and not for His guidance in every other part of my life? Those may not seem like terribly complex questions, but for someone raised in fundamentalism they are issues that cannot lay undisturbed.

Ed Bowling
January, 2007