As we are all aware by now, the mining disaster in West Virginia has
come to a horrible conclusion with 12 of the 13 miners found dead with
one being sent to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. in
serious condition. Let us give thanks and pray for the recovery of this
miner, while continuing to pray for the families of the miners who have
lost their lives.

Today, the media will focus – and rightly so –
on the misinformation that was given out late last night to family
members that 12 miners had been found alive. The questions of who made
the call to family members and why did the company not try to stop the
misinformation when it was being circulated around will be asked
throughout the day and throughout the remainder of the week as the
investigation into the accident begins. My hope is that the biggest
question – why the mine was even open – is the key aspect to the
investigation.

On a side note, as a native of West Virginia, this tragedy has
been hard to watch on television. We West Virginians have a close bond
with that state. It’s hard to explain, but those of us who were born
there, raised there, and still have family in the state know what I am
talking about. In short, we are a close-knitt family of 1.8 million
people. For many of those people, mining is the only option to make a
living and a dangerous one at that. Not everyone, like some of us here
in the Raleigh-Durham area, have the option or the ability to get out
of the state and look for better opportunities. Mining has done a lot
of good for West Virginia, but we all hope for the day when mining is
not the main option for people in West Virginia who are looking for
work to put food on the table for their families.