As I write this, I am sitting beside the spillway at Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina, just below the waters of Lake Susan – a small manmade lake, fed by a creek that flows down from the surrounding mountains.
As I write this, I can hear the gentle flow of water over the spillway, but last September, the water was anything but gentle. Torrents of rain from Hurricane Helene spilled down the mountain and tore into the valley below Montreat. The spillway’s depth of 1/2 an inch of water became a raging waterfall ten feet deep. The waters from Lake Susan fed into the Swannanoa River, flooding the town of Swannanoa and causing further damage downstream in Asheville as the Swannanoa converged with the French Broad River.
There are signs of the storm all around Montreat and nearby Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Wilson, and other towns – downed trees along streams and roads that cannot be repaved until federal and state money is approved for rebuilding. We are renting a house for the week at Montreat and the road leading up to the house is part-gravel, where the asphalt was washed away by the floods. But it’s not just streams and roads. Businesses are boarded up. Our favorite restaurant in Asheville closed this past spring. The Ten Thousand Villages store at Montreat sits empty.
Yes, there are signs of the storm that remain – eight or nine months later – but one of the most lasting effects of the storm was the “river of compassion that left its own watermark.” This is a paraphrase from a song by David LaMotte, a Montreat native and a singer-songwriter. David is one of the worship leaders this week at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference – a gathering that I have been blessed to attend these past five years.
This week, in addition to taking classes on the history of hymnody, the ethics of the Good Samaritan, preaching the Letter to the Colossians, and a class on poetry and songwriting, I have been enveloped by the blessings of amazing music, excellent preaching, and old and new friends. In a random happenstance, I even met someone who has actually been to our church before! What fun!
This is a special place for me (and for so many others). Even though there was horrific damage to the community, it is a joy to be back here – witnessing a beloved community.
I’m looking forward to getting back to New Hampshire, though. . . I’ll be out this Sunday, but back in the office next week. I am so thankful for Scott DeBlock and Blair Moffett for filling in while I am away – as well as the Elders and Deacons and musicians who are leading in worship.
I hope you are well and look forward to seeing you soon!
Grace and Peace,
John