I live on Max Patch Road, named after a gorgeous bald mountain a short distance from my property that used to be sacred ground to the Cherokee, and still is sacred ground to many who live in these parts. People come from all around to climb to the top of it. From there you can see mountains as far as the eye can see in every direction, 360 degrees. The Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, the Blue Ridge in North Carolina – stunningly gorgeous vistas wherever you look. The top of my blog page, just above this writing,  is a picture I look from the top of Max Patch.

Yesterday we had lightning and thunder storms come through, then blue skies, then more storms – a patchwork all day. At some point during the day I heard emergency vehicles going through these gravel roads, a very unusual event. I called a neighbor to ask if he knew what had happened, as I saw some smoke from what I know now was just a bonfire, but was I worried that one of our mountain neighbors’ house was burning. I got the call this morning to tell me what had happened. A young couple from Knoxville had come up to hike up to Max Patch. The young man had planned this day and this place to propose to his girlfriend. On their way to the top one of the storms came through and the young woman was struck by lightning. She died on the spot. The boy tried to revive her but could not, so he had to leave her to go try to find help as no cell phones work from up here. It is incomprehensible to think of what this experience was like for him.

I’m not sure why I feel so compelled to tell the story here. It is huge in everyone’s mind around this mountain today and will be forever in some way probably. None of us knew the kids or their families, but this happened to them on our sacred place. How will these families ever assimilate this, especially that young man? If you pray, let’s pray for them. What is God thinking?