room, his descriptions of them clearly revealing his love of art. He enclosedan engraving on a religious subject as a gift to Theo—thus expressing hislove for his brother as well as his religious passion.DECISION TO BE AN ARTISTIn 1878, van Gogh secured a position as a lay minister in a coal-miningvillage in Belgium, in an area called the Borinage, having decided not topursue his formal religious studies, which would have taken another sevenyears. As was his custom, he threw himself into his work, giving away hisbelongings, living on bread and water, and taking sick miners into his ownhome. He also began sketching the miners.From the beginning he had admired and respected these members ofhis congregation and seemed to identify with them. He described them ina letter to Theo:they are intelligent and quick at their difficult work; brave andfrank . . . they are short but square-shouldered, with melancholy deep-set eyes. They are skillful at many things, and work terribly hard. Theyhave a nervous temperament—I do not mean weak, but very sensi-tive. They have an innate, deep-rooted hatred and a strong mistrustof anyone who is domineering. With miners one must have a miner’scharacter and temperament, and no pretentious pride or mastery, orone will never get along with them or gain their confidence. (NYGS,Letter 129, April 1879).Van Gogh’s relationship with his church superiors was strained. Theywere dismayed that he would not follow rules. Taking sick miners to hishome to try to nurse them back to health was against church policy. Fric-tion increased. Reprimands for his excessive zeal with the miners wentunheeded. Finally, in July of 1879, he was told that his appointment wouldnot be extended. Van Gogh moved to a neighboring village where he reada great deal and pursued his interest in drawing. He was, once again, ques-tioning the direction of his life’s work. He went home for some time to visithis parents, in spite of the bad feelings between him and his father. The lat-ter had been shocked and bitterly disappointed that Vincent had decidednot to pursue the formal study of theology and that his vocation wouldnot be passed on. He also disapproved of his son’s apparent indifferenceto earning money to support himself. After some months of soul search-ing, van Gogh decided, in the summer of 1879, to return to the Borinage.In a letter to Theo, he wrote of his chosen path in characteristically moralterms—he believed an artist’s vocation was sublime and admirable