The beauty within us and around us---some sketches by Ms. Debra Lynn Kimball

These sketches were done by Debra Lynn Kimball. She is a retiree living in West Virginia and doe some great art work. These sketches depict Christ in the mines watching over mine workers. I think that most people who go underground for work pray some, and many mine workers will tell you that they either
depend on God's protection or have been saved from disasters underground by divine intervention or know people who have been. There can be a spirituality attached to the work, and I think that Ms. Kimball's great sketch work captures some of that.

I want to offer one more thought here. I'm one of those people who loves mine workers and mining communities, but that does not mean that I love the coal industry and do not want to see needed economic and political transitions take place. That said, I want to ask people who don't think much about the mine workers and their communities, and those who do think about them through the lenses of stereotypes, to consider that no one is going to give up on work that they pray over and have a spiritual attachment to without something better and safer and guaranteed and that they can take ownership of in the same ways that mine workers feel ownership and control of their work.

This is part of a blog series on the beautiful things around us and within us. I enjoy doing these posts more than many others. To see other posts in this series, please hit the "Beauty" tag on this post. Thanks!