This morning here on Grand Isle, Vermont, from Adirondack chairs beside Lake Champlain while watching car ferries traverse back and forth between Plattsburgh, NY, and this island, my mind keeps going to an oddity we saw near where we stayed in Tamworth, New Hampshire.
Past the summer home of the 22nd and 24th president, Grover Cleveland, a massive 20 foot tall hunk of rock sits beside the road. Crumbling stone steps lead to the top of this massive boulder with a tall white obelisk rising even higher. After passing by several times, we one day decided to stop. We expected the rock to be associated with the cemetery across the road; therefore, we were quite surprised at what was written on the obelisk. The Congregational Church of Tamworth had its beginning here when Samuel Hidden was ordained on the rock on September 12, 1792. Samuel served in the War of the Revolution from 1777-1781. He attended Dartmouth College. “He came into the Wilderness and left it a Fruitful field,” reads the north side of the monument.
A rock. Only a rock. Jesus says, “Upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). “How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!”
The Reverend Samuel Hidden was a minister for 46 years. He died in 1837 at age 77.
The ferries keep going back and forth. Back and forth. We plan to ride one later this morning, but right now Laurence is rather impatient with his wife’s blogging because he wants to go for a walk on Lake Shore Road. A good day to you.
Berniece
An Ordinary Life 