Community members contribute items and stories to Unity of the Blue Ridge’s prayer wall

STONES FOR PEACE: Local mason Jill Haynie pieced together the stories, stones and offerings of many people to make the prayer wall she built for Unity of the Blue Ridge. Photo by Mindi Meltz Friedwald

A painted stone beloved since childhood. Quartz crystals and hidden geodes. A sea urchin and a tiny statue of Ganesha. A stone found in a basement in Italy. River stones washed up in the flooding from Tropical Storm Helene.

Each piece in Unity of the Blue Ridge’s new 40-foot-long prayer wall has its own history, embedded within altarlike alcoves or larger mosaics of locally sourced, uniquely shaped stones. Walking around to the backside, visitors can even peek into a niche inside the right arm of the structure to see and touch fragments of the Berlin Wall.

The church represents the Asheville branch of Unity Church, a denomination with Christian origins that draws on wisdom from many religious traditions and honors all paths to God. People throughout the region gifted the stones, keepsakes and prayers that comprise this wall, which was built in honor of Unity of the Blue Ridge’s 75th anniversary. Though not quite complete, Unity invites all to visit it and — if they wish — insert their own written prayers into the cracks left open between stones.

The Rev. Darlene Strickland envisioned the wall as part of the property’s Pathway of Peace, a spiritual landscaping plan for Unity’s 10 acres of forest and green space in Mills River. It includes a labyrinth and a rainbow bridge to memorialize deceased pets, which is still under construction.

A time capsule containing individuals’ private letters to the future was mortared into the wall itself, and in it Strickland enclosed a letter of peace and prayer.

“This prayer wall is not just stone,” she writes to future generations. “It is made of hope, goodwill and our stories.” The message also notes that the wall was built for “prayer, reflection, connection, healing, renewal, joy and solace — for all who seek it, whether they come from near or far.” 

Of course, plans for the actual project, designed and constructed by local mason Jill Haynie, were nearly upended by Tropical Storm Helene. 

Constructing a vision after loss

Haynie and Strickland first discussed ideas for the prayer wall in July. At the time, Haynie was preparing for an extended trip to Greece, where she regularly goes for work and trains in European masonry techniques. The two agreed to reconnect upon her return in the fall. Little did either know how much the region would change. 

When Haynie got back to Western North Carolina in October, she discovered her home had been destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene. Almost everything she owned was gone, and she had no idea what to do next other than offer a prayer of surrender. As she was doing so, her phone rang. It was Strickland, calling to report that the church had power and water and was unscathed. When she learned of Haynie’s situation, Strickland secured her a temporary home through one of the church’s congregants.

She got to work on the wall in mid-October.

Unity, whose community consists of around 300 local members as well as virtual participants throughout the world, invited contributions to the wall through Facebook, its newsletter and word-of-mouth. Some people brought stones in person; others left them for Haynie to find in the morning when she came to work; still others mailed them in.

Local carpenter Jake Dann assisted Haynie on the project. Dann did the back side of the wall while Haynie focused on the front. This approach, Haynie notes, is unconventional. Normally, to avoid uniformity of style, two masons go back and forth on both sides of a wall. “Something told me … no, let him do the back. … Let’s see what happens,” Haynie says.

Dann’s contribution, Haynie continues, reminds her of Peruvian-style walls, while her work calls to mind both Ireland and Jerusalem. It’s “very international,” she says, which Haynie feels aligns with the multidenominational embrace of the church.

“I’ve really worked my whole life in honing my intuition, and you know, to me stonework is really about intuition,” Haynie says.  

Haynie chose the crowning rock because it called to her in a dream, and she says that Dann responded to her choice with the exact words she spoke in her dream: that it reminded him of the Taj Mahal.

For Strickland, the wall is a physical presence “where the seen and the unseen come together as one.” She imagines it helping people connect with God in a tangible way, just as a member of the Catholic church might touch a rosary.

“I’m very interfaith in my understanding of God, and there are many pathways to experience,” says Strickland. “Even the word ‘God’ is just very limiting, and we all interpret it in our different ways. … It’s helpful at times to have a physical touchstone to help us connect with something that is beyond touchable.”

Stone as living meditation

Haynie says she frequently stopped work on the wall to counsel visitors who came there seeking healing and inner peace. She believes that whatever healing needs to happen for a person, the wall creates a space for that to open. Building the wall also helped Haynie herself heal from the doubt and upheaval after losing her home.

“You’re processing your life as you’re building,” she says. Working with stone, she continues, is a form of meditation. She believes visitors to the wall can access that same meditative “energy” that she and others put into it, because the wall is “living.” And she hopes that people will insert their prayers into the cracks.

She told Dann when they started work, “You will be different when this is over.” She saw the work as a profound journey, “because any time you’re doing something, especially community based, you build relationship, you learn about people, you hear people’s stories, you hear their sadness.”

One couple in the congregation asked if they could contribute some of the ashes of their recently deceased parents; Strickland held a ceremony as the wall was being built.

Meanwhile, a cousin of Haynie’s sent in a heart-shaped stone that he’d painted red as a child; it was a gift for his mother after his brother was killed by a drunk driver. He told Haynie he’d rather it be part of the prayer wall than forgotten when he dies. Haynie built a shrine around it in the wall.

“Healing is a natural thing that happens,” says Strickland, “but healing needs space; our body needs rest. We need a loving, nurturing atmosphere to heal.” She intends the Pathway of Peace to provide that atmosphere and believes it will be a catalyst for healing and community connection that she can’t even yet predict.

The invitation

Haynie recently left for Scotland and Ireland to complete a life coaching certification program with the Hay Foundation. When she returns, she will add the finishing touches to the prayer wall, including a semicircle “landing” in front which extends the stonework into a central patio. Above it, a metal tree of life will be inlaid. Strickland imagines using the space in front of the wall for memorial services, outdoor yoga or other community purposes.

In spring, once the wall and at least some pathways are complete, Strickland plans to hold an interfaith ceremony to officially christen and open the prayer wall to the public. But she welcomes visitors to experience it now, as long as they understand that it and the other Pathway of Peace features are still a work in progress.

Until early February, anyone is welcome to contribute stones for the mosaic of the landing, leaving them in front of the wall for Haynie to include when she returns.

Most of all, for Unity’s anniversary, Strickland wants to give the prayer wall as a healing gift to the greater community. “We welcome anyone to come out and experience it, if it can be a blessing in their life.”

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One thought on “Community members contribute items and stories to Unity of the Blue Ridge’s prayer wall

  1. John Yokley

    I moved away from Mills River and Unity of Blue Ridge in 2018. I miss the inner peace I had whenever I took my many dogs (Dora, then Abby and lastly Peanut) walking in back and spread some of their ashes there as well. The most serenity I’ve experienced in my life and the meditation wall is a perfect complement to that blissful property. I now live a miserable existence in the flat lands due to family and ego. But my soul will always be there, walking by the creek, with the souls of pets past basking in the glory of mindfulness and peace.

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