Kentucky Chaplain David Chaltas

Momma always cried on Christmas Eve. It was for a brief moment and though she tried to hide it, stating she was so happy, I saw the sadness in her eyes. For the longest time I did not understand why she was so sad yet tried to act so happy during the holiday season. I tried to make her feel happy by being extra good.

The truth of her sorrow came one Christmas when my Uncle Charlie came to spend Christmas with us. I was in my bed supposedly sleeping (wide eyed and bushy tailed while waiting on Santa); I overheard my mother and Uncle crying. I got up to see what was the matter. My uncle looked at Momma and said something to the effect that it was time I knew the truth.

My uncle put me on his knee and between tears both he and my mother began telling me of a special man. He was a family man, a man that worked in the mines from morning til dark just to carve out a living in coal. He had a wife and thirteen mouths to feed. He worked in a mine called Tea Cup and worked in the 3rd portal at Carbon Glow, Kentucky. He would walk to and from work in the dark and then he would work in a darken cavern. The distance was approximately three miles one way. His oldest boys worked beside him.

On one particular shift, they were working around the timber support when he heard a familiar rumble and looking up, he saw the timbers bucking under the weight. He knew all too well what that meant. To his horror, he saw his son standing underneath the brace supporting the weight of the mountain. Without hesitation he instantly ran and shoved his oldest son out of the way just as the timber snapped, crushing him with the weight of our mother earth. They brought his mangled body out of the mines on December 24, 1930. That oldest son was none other than my Uncle Charlie. That brave man was my mother’s father. His name was James Blair and to me he is a hero, as he was to her.

Often I thank of how that night changed my definition of a hero and I am thankful to God for a father that is willing to sacrifice his own life for his son. I recall John 15:13-“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” But whenever I think of my grandfather’s sacrifice, I think of God’s sacrifice and the love that He had for me. “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) I cannot imagine loving someone so much that I would be willing to sacrifice my child and allow him to suffer and die for the sins of others. But I cannot fathom the wisdom of God and His omnipotent power. If I am loved by my Creator to the point that He offered His Son on the cross for my sins and offers me eternal life, can I not in return give Him my love, my heart, and my all? Softly He calls. Gingerly He beckons. Will I not do all to serve Him that did so much for me? I Remain the Proud Grandson of a Miner and grateful for His love, The Old General.