Deep
in the Morgan County hills and hollows, heaven calls out.
Children
splash in galvanized wash tubs in the shade of the old tobacco barn,
dreaming
of cream-covered strawberries and blackberry cobbler.
Mercy,
it’s hotter than blazes.
But
as the sun peeks over the ridges at noon, the church remains deep in shadow.
No
one seeks Jesus there - not for decades.
Strains
of sacred hymns still echo off hard poplar pews, faint and reverent.
Or
may be it’s just the sound of the walls peeling and ceilings flaking?
Like
the “civilized” missionary women who came to save them,
they
all left, one by one, until no one came at all.
Abandoned
and forgotten, the church sits in lonely silence, a victim of the coal
bust.
Oh,
in these Eastern Kentucky foothills, heaven still calls,
but
there is no one in the church to answer.
Mute
and impotent, the union church faces death with bitter grace.
For
most of all, it misses the children.
---
Robert
Miller is a proud artist volunteer
for
The Appalachia Service Project.
To
find out how you can help Appalachian families
in
need, click the logo above or call (423) 854-8800.