He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2
As I write this devotional, I am overlooking a new place to me– Lake Junaluska in beautiful North Carolina, which has been a mountain retreat for the Methodist church since the early 1900s. The retreat’s mission is to “renew the soul, mind and body.” Located at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, their conference center is designed around a 200-acre lake and serves the entire Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church and is home to the World Methodist Council.
While Bob and I are headed to Wichita for the South Central Jurisdictional Conference this week, bishops and delegates are gathering here for the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Within the United States there are five jurisdictions and the purpose of Jurisdictional Conference is to elect bishops and make their episcopal assignments. Equal numbers of laity and clergy, elected by the annual conferences, serve as delegates to the Jurisdictional Conferences, which are held once every four years in the same years as the General Conference meets. Each jurisdiction has a committee on episcopacy (one clergy and one lay person from each annual conference) who reviews the bishops’ work and assigns them to their areas.
We came here because Bob was invited to preach on Sunday. Their theme for the summer is “Come to the Water.” All who came that morning were blessed by the service in what I learned was truly an historical place for Methodism. Because the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference is always held at Lake Junaluska, rather than changing locations each four years as we do, their jurisdiction has elected more bishops in the United States in the very space in which we worshipped than any other place in the country. I could feel the pride with which people spoke as we were told that story time and time again. A sense of awe and wonder filled the room, as we realized that we were among many who had been elected a bishop in years past, as well as those who came in hopes of being elected this week.
Sunday afternoon we had the opportunity to discover a few of the many treasures of the area. I felt drawn to the second verse of the 23rd Psalm because of our experiences that day. We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and through The Smoky Mountain National Park. As we approached a Visitor Welcome Center, we noticed a lush green field with several signs posted around its’ perimeter. Their message was simple – “No admittance to this area during this time of year because it is a “calving area” for the female elk to come deliver their young.” I was touched that, in the midst of this bustling tourist place, there was also a place that the elk could lie down in the green pasture and not be disturbed in their labor.
There is a beautiful 3.8-mile walking path that encircles the lake. As we walked the path, many people we met along the way told us of this “sacred, holy place” they had returned to each year since their childhood. Each person spoke about the lake with a sense of reverence and gratitude. Being beside the still water offered all of us peace and tranquility. We were blessed to discover this place and to remember the psalm that we have known our whole lives. Our God is indeed awesome!
Marsha Long, Director of Hospitality Ministry
