The Occasional Newsletter
A Prayer for Western NC, A Beautiful Rabbit Trail, and a Surprise Visitor
Western North Carolina is all of us: those mountains, towns, rivers, lakes and winding roads have raised us weekend by weekend, nurturing and challenging our bodies and giving rest to our spirits for as long as we have known. We all turn westward in our hearts when lush green blurs into orange and gold and clear crisp air, that braces for the bright blankets of snow-white, when spring starts gently, and then dazzles us with laurels and rhododendrons, fern brakes and full mountain streams. Now we watch our children return again and again.
But the main story is with those and their generations who have called those mountains home in a way the rest of us cannot fathom. They are not the day trippers and tourists–they are the heart of why we go. They are the salt of earth who live undaunted and determined in their loyalty to toil, family, church and community. To them we now honor and aid.
For them we now pray.
Thanksgiving and worship
O Lord, we call on you in our grief and loss.
O Lord we stand in awe of the might and strength of your creation–the beauty and terror it displays takes away our breath and leaves us at your mercy as we meet your mercy.
We meet your mercy through neighbors familiar and nameless, near and far, the professional and situational helps who rush to give aid, comfort and presence.
Thank you O God for the perseverance, pride, resourcefulness, grit and graciousness of the dear mountain people who show the rest of us how it’s done.
Lament
And yet, Our hearts are burdened and shaken, our hearts are bewildered and astonished at the stories of so many swept away, overcome by water, weeping, by loss and lament.
We, their neighbors near and afar–mourn with , sorrow with, intercede for.
All creation groans and awaits its release from captivity. And we love and steward it in its last days, even as you in your faithfulness, waiting also, repair the cycles and dwelling places of bird and beast, forest and thicket, pastures and hollers.
Petition
Return the lost to loved ones and living places. Repair breaches of communication and river-spans. Restore all with power, water, roads, housing. Renew hearts of those who are displaced, who are still isolated and unfound, those
Heal and care for the children: give them peaceful sleep, unworried minds. Reunite them with their pets and friends and schools. Watch over the babies, give them nourishment and comfort those who worry over them.
Be solace and a strong tower to the aged, who need mobility, medication, medical care, warmth. May all find homes whatever space that holds–may they be bright with gospel love and kindness, food and safe shelter.
Lament
We mourn the unfathomable pain of erasure–where pleasant paths, trails, towns, street signs, trail memorials, gravestones and gathering places are no more. Those things that served as anchors of community and culture. Where is no place to sit and mourn but only in the mind.
Petition
Give strength to the linemen, medical personel, those who donate, deliver food and supplies, sort diapers, and rescue people and pets. Bless the helpers, bring aid and relief for burdened minds who see the ravages of suffering and death.
Shine on the gathered community in church buildings, around tables, in shelters–strengthen relationships, increase their love, supply patience. May all receive what they need.
May all those who peddle lies and promote false prophesies that stoke fear and chaos, and keep the needy from receiving help. May all false words fall to the ground.
Protect the vulnerable from lies, from price gouging, from extortion, from coerced labor, from violence.
Protect the wounded and displaced from those who would take advantage by pushing prices, offering deceptive contracts and financial arrangements, from those who promise things that are not so.
Empower those who promote peace
My God, you have heard our petitions, Jesus has promised whatever his children ask in his name, we will have it. In that power and unfathomable love, I ask you,
May all these things be so.
Mountain Music and a Beautiful Rabbit Trail
First, it started with looking for a playlist of western North Carolina music. I found this: An Our State Playlist: North Carolina Mountain Music compiled by Mark Kemp, senior editor of Our State Magazine.
Second, I looked for a playlist that featured African-America folk music. There were some good links about the history of the banjo: African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions by Cecelia Conway.
Third, I stumbled upon the brilliant and beautiful Rhiannon Giddens who has done some really cool stuff. Watch this 20 minute video and get ready to be delighted: Uncovering the History of the Banjo with Rhiannon Giddens: From African Roots to American Music.
Fourth, I learned that Joe Thompson was her inspiration……JOE THOMPSON from link my town Mebane!
Fifth, Joe’s Disciples became a band!!
In 2005 a small band called the Carolina Chocolate drops met Joe at a folk music gathering called the Black Banjo Group. The band, then made up of founding members Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Súle Greg Wilson resolved to learn from Joe by going out to his home once a week for jam sessions.
They sometimes performed with Joe and spoke often on how honored they were to be learning from him. The Chocolate Drops won a grammy in 2011 for Best Traditional Folk Album. The band went through several members and most are now focused on their solo careers. Still, such a high level award being earned by a band that learned so much from Joe can only be viewed as a crowning achievement of the highest order. - Mebane Historical Museum
Sixth, this SAME Rhiannon Gidden collaborated with Beyoncé on 'Cowboy Carter' (4:32/9:27). I said BEYONCÉ.
And THAT, friends, is my super awesome rabbit trail that turned into a Tribute to the African American Musical Legacy of our Western North Carolina Neighbors.
Surprise Visitor
Long Tailed Skipper, migrating from eastern NC, sitting pretty on an anise “tree.” I had never seen one of these before—it was straight up BLUE! “One of the best fall butterflies around” says my butterfly expert friend and neighbor. Learn more about these here.
Untwisted Scripture
When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17
Beautiful and true.