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Contributed Prayers

Lord, Please give me strength

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

Submitted by Joe Burrell of Reedville, VA

When I visited Kayford Mountain, WV for the first time I experienced a number of emotions:

Horror – How could anybody do this to the beautiful mountains

Shame – To be part of the human race that perpetrates such a crime

Sadness – Those sites will never be beautiful again

Anger – I hated Massey and the others

Helplessness – What can anybody do to change things

Joy – A lot of good people are working on it

Hope – Progress is being made

Lord, please give me the strength to harness these emotions to work for positive change. Help me turn hate to love, and treat those who agree with mountaintop removal with the repect and dignity they deserve. Help me find the strength to continue working for what is right.

7 Responses to “Lord, Please give me strength”

  1. Wendye McGehee Says:

    Mr. Burrell…

    This is beautiful…and painful. Of all the submissions I’ve read here, yours spoke of that which I feel so deeply in my own soul. The guilt and the hate eat at me, but I too realize that I must harness these negative emotions and focus them into some kind of positive response to this horror. Thank you for putting it so eloquently into words.

    Wendye

  2. Dear Wendye Says:

    Just read your reply. Thank you.

    I am seeing a lot of positive things in recent weeks. I believe that awareness is on an increasingly sharp upper curve.

    New York state has gotten in the fray with Virginia’s Dominion Resources over a proposed coal fired power plant.

    Massey coal has had a number of regulation decisions made against them recently.

    Our prayers have helped.

    Joe, November 15, 2007

  3. J McMann Says:

    Mr Burrell

    I agree with and am deeply touched by most of what you say here, but there is one area that I feel is a sad misinterpretation of our emotions. Why are some emotions judged to be “negative” when they are true and real expressions of how we feel? What is wrong with hating something that feels and IS obviously an unloving act? Ignoring your true feelings so that you can “respect” someone who is raping and pillaging gives them the message that they can continue doing this. Change doesnt occur until people get fed up with the bullshit and express it clearly. Maybe we need to recognize that some entities that live upon this Earth do NOT have loving intent, have no intention of changing their ways and need to be told clearly that we do not like what they are doing and they need to stop. What really irks me is why do you think you need to treat those who have no respect for others with respect and dignity. How about giving them your true expression instead of mixed messages so that they can learn not to do unloving acts if they even have intent to learn here?

  4. tater Says:

    Ok i know that everyone has the right to voice there thoughts on everything in the world. I have been a coal miner for 3 year right out of high school. As i began my first day of work you know all i seen was a big disaster. but as my work went on i realized that if it was not for surface mining in are area there would not be no place to build home build schools build water reservoirs roads anything. what you all do is go out and take pictures of all the bad things and put in people all over the world that this is what it looks like never to be use again. i would like to invite you to here in eastern ky to see some of the prettiest land where homes where built where animals roam where you can ride horse, have farm on flat land and most of all have power. it is so much easier to cut grass on flat land then on a side of a hill. so what iam getting to is look at all the good things that come out of mining instead of all the bad things. and one more thing if you all do some day succeed in the ban of surface mining and make me lose everything ive worked hard for i hope your life is as hard as mine when your power goes out and you have no computer no phone no tv no hair dryer to dry your no water heater do give you warm water dont start bitching because you dont have this stuff becuase surface mining is the fastest way to get coal out from the hills to keep the world powered today
    thank you
    surface miner for life

  5. pornoizle Says:

    thanks

    en on a side of a hill. so what iam getting to is look at all the good things that come out of mining instead of all the bad things. and one more thing if you all do some day succeed in the ban of surface mining and make me lose everything ive worked hard for i hope your life is as hard as mine when your power goes out and you have no computer no phone no tv no hair dryer to dry your no water heater do give you warm water dont start bitching because you dont have this stuff becuase surface mining is the fastest way to get coal out from the hills to keep the world powered today
    thank you
    surface miner for life

  6. video galerisi Says:

    thanks

    en on a side of a hill. so what iam getting to is look at all the good things that come out of mining instead of all the bad things. and one more thing if you all do some day succeed in the ban of surface mining and make me lose everything ive worked hard for i hope your life is as hard as mine when your power goes out and you have no computer no phone no tv no hair dryer to dry your no water heater do give you warm water dont start bitching because you dont have this stuff becuase surface mining is the fastest way to get coal out from the hills to keep the world powered today
    thank you
    surface miner for life

  7. Mallory Lyman Says:

    I felt all these emotions and more when I went to Kayford Mountain. I actually became physically ill at one point during my stay. May we see an end to this practice within our life time. Justice is deserved.

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