The Cross above the Mountain - Sunday March 15th, 2026
- Priscilla Loomis
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Symmes Chapel is an open-aired chapel built on Stone Mountain, SC in 1941. It sits at an elevation of 3,200 feet and overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Today was overcast, and yet you could still see how breathtaking the view is.
Overhead they’ve carved a portion of Psalm 122 on the beam above the cross, which due to lighting my camera couldn’t capture. It’s a perfect verse for this location.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” - Psalms 121:1-2
We shared the pews with a multitude of strangers, as there were many visitors on this Sunday morning. Some came alone, some with family or friends. Some were there for photos, but more were there to pray. All came to see the cross which rises stark and steady against the open sky, more prominent than the vast mountain ranges behind it.
It stands there without ornament or explanation, drawing people upward - eyes first, then heart. Beneath it we all become somehow “neighbors” for a moment, united not by words, similarities, or stories, but by a shared reverence for the Holy One it points to.
Although we were missing our home church today, there is comfort in knowing that although far apart, we are all looking up to the same Loving Father.
Before heading up to the chapel, this was our only stop before leaving South Carolina. But the Lord had other plans! Somehow in the area of no cell service, Lyndi found something online. A nearby tunnel location with an interesting tale. So, we made a quick decision to head in that direction.
We first stopped at the Last Chance Bar in Walhalla, SC…. Mostly because we were hungry, and it was literally the last stop before heading into the National Forest again. What fun we had! This is a well known local bar with an interesting decor… dollar bills stapled to the walls & ceiling, each signed with a name or saying from patrons over the years. We of course had to add our mark since we passed through!
One of the gentlemen seated at the bar when we arrived got up, asked for the overhead music to be turned off, and, sitting on a barrel at the piano, played us some lively music! He later chatted with Joey for quite a while about what we are doing, so excited about it that he went home to grab his girlfriend and bring her back to meet us. We truly love encounters like this! Not only do we get more information about where we are going, we get to share the Lords light! And we left the bar with that feeling you get when you know you were a small part of a the Lords larger plan.
After eating we headed out into the rainy afternoon. The tunnel was a short walk from the parking lot, and as we round the trail corner a thin wisp of fog seems to hover above the earth and continues on through the tunnel.
The light from the entrance fades as we walk farther into the long narrow throat of the tunnel, and the colors change to muted grays and deep charcoal tones until all that’s left is our headlights as we explore. The rain that seeps through the ground above feeds the constant drops of water that slide from stone to stone and fall to the puddles at our feet. I don’t mean this to sound creepy, it’s more like a place of curiosity where we’re excited to wander, explore, and discover what’s meant to be found.
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