United Baptist Church of Ellsworth

Maine’s coast and islands are hedged and braced by barnacled cliffs and sharply chiseled rocks hewed by glaciers, storms, and roaring seas. These ancient fortifications continue to protect Maine’s edges and are reminders of how the “Ancient of Days” protects and preserves the souls of His people.

A cottage garden invites one in to enjoy its beauty and sensual delights. Sights, tastes, smells, and tactile pleasures abound. Butterflies flutter and glide; humming birds whir and hover; bees buzz, toads hop, and deer and rabbits feast. Scenes of beginnings, maturings, endings and peaceful, contemplative spaces connect us with the human story of seasons of dormancy, renewal, growth, flowering, and fruitfulness.

When Willam Henley wrote those words in “Invictus,” he was facing the possibility of amputation of his leg because of chronic tuberculous bone disease. His other leg had already been amputated. That defiant, powerfully stated declaration declared his fierce determination to fight the impending darkness of his suffering.

A garden transforming from dormancy through renewal, growth, flowering, and fruitfulness is nothing short of a miracle. The unique shapes, colors, and time tables for each specific plant’s growth and blossoming add to this amazing progression…And garden pots remind me of Christ’s first recorded miracle.

Walking through the Schoodic Bog, one is reminded that our beautiful world is marred by nature’s disruptive and destructive whims. Similarly, the wonders and joys of our journeys are pockmarked with imperfections, disasters, and failures. Personal brokenness is universal.