A Beautiful Thing

I frequently walk on the Sabbath Trail, a one-mile trail adjacent to a historic church of my denomination which is located in Washington, New Hampshire. Visitors who hike on this trail will encounter thirty-one different sites at which they can rest and reflect. Each site features an engraved granite stone. Altogether, the messages on the stones serve to explain the history of the Sabbath from its origin at Creation to its observance in the new earth.

I enjoy resting on the bench at each site, surrounded by the peaceful beauty of the New England forest while I contemplate the message on each stone.

But the stones themselves have a story that speaks to my heart and reassures me that God has a masterful plan that includes me.

Over twenty years ago, the designer of the Sabbath Trail, Elder Merlin Knowles, drove past a granite quarry that was located in Enfield, New Hampshire. He noticed a number of discarded slabs of stone by the side of the road. These cast-off, asymmetrical rocks had one smooth side where they had been cut. The stones were of varying thicknesses and were no longer of any use for the needs of the quarry. The quarry owner was selling them for prices that ranged from five to twenty dollars—very low prices for New Hampshire granite.

These cast-off rocks became the stones on which the Sabbath messages were engraved. They are the focal points of the thirty-one sites and contribute to the exquisite beauty of the Sabbath Trail.

When I am feeling a bit left out, I remember the stones and how they were collected to make beautiful woodland masterpieces.

Dear sister, please know that as your Designer looks at you, He has a plan that beautifully includes you. He is well aware of your rough and crooked edges, but He still wants and needs you. You may feel cast off or abandoned, but He wants to include you as part of His masterpiece on this earth and beyond. Let Him establish His beauty in and through you today.

Marsha Hammond-Brummel