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Good Morning The terrible coal mining disaster in Turkey is a reminder of just what a dangerous profession coal mining is. The death toll is already over 300 with dozens of miners remaining missing. Coal mining used to be a major industry in West Yorkshire and the National Coal Mining Museum for England is located a few miles away from where I live. A few years ago I joined a party of people going underground, led by a former miner. As the mine is no longer operational it’s without the coal dust and the heat which would’ve been the everyday lot of working miners, but even today, walking bent double through some of the tunnels, relying on the light of the lamps on our helmets wasn’t easy. I don’t normally suffer from claustrophobia, but even so, after an hour or so, I was pleased to get back to the surface and breath in fresh air. I think of that experience every time I hear of another mining disaster, whether from New Zealand, Chile or now Turkey. It seems that the mine in Turkey was privatized in 2005 and there are accusations that there’s being a skimping on safety, and the prime minister was booed and jostled by angry protesters when he visited. But it’s too soon for blame, now is the time for grief and hope and our prayers go out to the bereaved and the brave rescuers hoping against hope to still rescue miners who may by trapped in an air pocket. We often don’t realize how deep our faith is until we’re faced with a desperate situation. And this tragedy has released both anger and prayer, with one rescuer reporting a note found in the hand of a dead miner which read, “Please give me your blessings son”. Death sneaks up on most of us. From those who are spared a few moments to communicate a final message we learn something of the true priorities of life. In the few moments left to those in the crashing planes and falling building of 9/11 there was one common message the victims chose to send to their wives, husbands, parents and children: I love you. Here was a man who wanted to be at peace with his son. There’s a lesson too from those who do have a sense of the approach of death. We saw that in Stephen Sutton who died on Wednesday after final weeks and months of uplifting optimism about the goodness of life which so touched the nation that more than 3 million pounds was given in his name to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Stephen made every minute of the last year of his life count, filling them with meaning and hope as he worked to help others. There is in that a fulfillment of the Easter message that out of death comes hope. The challenge for the rest of us is that we too should live every day as if it might be our last and fill it with what is most precious to us.