A few weeks ago, I spent a few days at the Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Dillard, NC. The Mountain, as it is fondly called (not to be confused with A mountain or the mountainS!), is a Unitarian Universalist camp and retreat center – some of you may have been there or sent your kids there. When the middle school youth group presented their Sunday service in March, one of the songs they shared was a Mountain camp staple: My, my, my beautiful Sunday (Sunday, Sunday!) my, my, my, what a beautiful day!
I’ve been going to the Mountain since 2011 and it has become one of the places my heart and soul are most content. The Southeast UU Ministers’ Association meets there twice a year for programming and collegial support. I’ve attended congregational retreats and served as staff or a presenter for denominational programs like leadership school and a renaissance module. Located on the top of Little Scaly Mountain, it is a place of great natural beauty, with cabins and a lodge, a common dining room, large meeting rooms, and many scenic overlooks and hiking trails.
My family has been with me and I’ve gone alone. I’ve gone for the day or for a week. I know countless youth and young adults who have attended cons and camps there. There are chalices and hymnals in every meeting room, UU values practiced throughout. It is a place of relationship-building, acceptance, and learning.
Why am I telling you all this, you may ask? Because the Mountain is one of our denominational connections. It’s part of the greater Unitarian Universalist community, and those connections are part of who we are as a community. It matters that there are other UUs out there, and it matters that there are places our kids (and ourselves) can go and know that we’re connected to the bigger picture of the living tradition we share.
One of the hallmarks of the Mountain is the steep and winding roads that you must drive to get there. The first time I drove myself up there it was honestly a little bit scary. I wasn’t sure how far it was going to be, and the cell service was spotty to say the least. But after so many years of making the journey, I find the curvy road soothing and familiar, it is the road to a place in which my soul can find rest and my heart be filled, where relationships I’ve built over a decade or more are nurtured and held. It is a place of memory and hope.
I hope you will be able to find your way to the Mountain sometime soon. They have lots and lots of different programs – from Thanksgiving to Music Week and everything in between. But even if you don’t make it up there, I invite you to take a moment to recall where your places of memory and hope are. Where does your soul find rest and your cup get filled? Because life moves fast and furious, and many challenging things are unfolding around us, and you deserve some respite.