Lake Junaluska—You are Awesome in This Place, Mighty God!

swesdome

Wisdom is the compass by which man is to steer 

across the trackless waste of life; 

without it he is a derelict vessel, 

the sport of winds and waves. 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Amazing the view from one side of Lake Junaluska to the other, that is at nine o'clock in the morning. At seven, you could scarcely see the wood planked footbridge and the mountains were nowhere to be found. The fog was thick as pea soup in London on a good day. You could hear the ducks on the lake, but you couldn't see them, the Canadian geese dared not attempt their early morning practice run, and the swans were still wrapped in their own wings until wake-up call—at the lifting of the fog. In essence, Junaluska, early of a morning is the epitome of the poem, like the life of man without wisdom—trackless waste. No compass could intervene. Except for the tops of our tennis shoes, we might as well have been blind and if we had tried this on tempestuous seas, we would have been a derelict vessel, the sport of winds and waves.

But notice the calmness, the mountains rising in the distance, and the beauty of the pink roses that bejeweled the path around the Lake, just two hours later. Someone once said, "what a difference a day makes." Actually, what a difference two hours makes. When you cannot see two feet in front of you, the view is hopeless until the brilliance of the sun burns off the barrier to light.

There's something extraordinarily soothing about the two-mile hike around the beautiful assembly campus of the Methodists, which has been there for years on end, since the early 1900's.The camp is named for nearby Mount Junaluska, which was named for the Junaluska Indians but is now called North Eaglenest Mountain. So, in a round-about way, Lake Junaluska is named for the Indian tribe, I'm sure a proud heritage. 

It's a little over two miles around the lake, takes about thirty or forty minutes, just the right amount of time to ponder our Creator God's handiwork in this little spot of America the Beautiful. I couldn't help but wonder if all these residents of Junaluska really understand how greatly they are blessed, some of them situated high in the hills surrounding the lake with a view of everything, the water, the mountains close, the mountains in the distance, the cross, the buildings that house people who have come to renew, to reinvigorate, and just to enjoy. 


He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake...  Psalm 23


For the glory of a new day, for the cool, almost cold, fall breeze, for allowing the roses to bloom along the paths for yet a while longer . . . You are awesome in this place, Abba Father!




Jane Bennett Gaddy, Ph.D.
Trinity, FLA