November 24, 2011
We have had a wonderful November. We had our last mow on a particularly chilly and windy day. But mostly the weather has
been unusually calm with many mornings of lazy fog burning into sixty-degree
days and light breezes. It has been so mild the lima beans made it to
Thanksgiving morning, and they were a delight at the afternoon’s table. We were also
blessed with Tracy’s Dad and Stepmom who visited for the first time. We have
details in pictures on our Facebook page.
Earlier, wonderful guests from as far away as
Whales to neighboring Queen Anne’s county have been through this month, but the
migrating flocks have finished. Now mornings are filled with light oranges and
yellows accompanied by the familiar whistling of duck wings hidden between the
flat water and mist. The sun goes quickly now, making us all rush to the
western lawn to catch the last blip of sun race behind the western shore. And
it is moving toward the end of the point more rapidly. Once setting adjacent to
the entrance fence, the sun’s arc seems to be speeding faster toward the cross,
where it will disappear at the same latitude as the black pine in the southwest
corner of the point.
And this brings me to a request we had this month.
Invariably everyone asks about our most prominent feature and indeed, for us at
least, the cross is the point, both literally and figuratively. We have told
the story to many of you, but we thought we put it here, particularly as we
thank God for all He said He would do, and what He has indeed done.
Tracy and I had heard various stories about the
origins of how the cross came to be at the end of our sanctuary, and as we prayed
for answers God sent us witnesses. We met the Hilmers the beginning of this
past summer, who bought the property in 1976. They had recently joined a
charismatic Catholic church in Baltimore. On Mr. Hilmer’s 33rd
birthday and because Christ died at age 33, Mr. Hilmer was led to drive to the
end of route 33 (this property) and buy it. Later Mrs. Hilmer bought the statue
of St. Francis (1 of 7) who still stands over the well cap. Sometime after the
purchase of Black Walnut Point lumber washed up in the back cove laying in the
configuration of a cross. The Hilmers took this as another miracle and told
their church about it. The church came down, planted the huge cross at the end
of the point and blessed it.
As an earlier confirmation of the Hilmer’s story,
in the summer of 2010 we asked God about the history of the cross. The next day
a Deacon and his Parish Coordinator from a Catholic church in Delaware were
compelled to drive down to the Inn. They made it just before sunset and told us
of the day the cross was erected and blessed. The Deacon had not been on the
property since that time, but knew he had to come back. As the sun was setting
that Sunday afternoon we got a bucket of water, joined hands and said a prayer.
Then we blessed the cross.
By both the Hilmer’s and the Deacon’s account their
church hosted revivals on weekends with upwards of 200-300 people. In the fall
of 2010 a fellow named Pat came to visit to tell of his experience with these
rivals, and he was quite an animated fellow:
"My wife went over to the Eastern Shore one
time and came back speakin' in tongues and filled with the Holy Ghost. I looked
at her in amazement and said, 'Honey, we're Catholic. We don't do that.' So I
had to come on over here to this point an’ find out what was goin' on, and the
same thing happened to me, praise Jesus!”
Pat went on to talk about the work he now does with
Vets across the bay on the Western Shore.
As for the rest of the story, the revivals went on
for many more years, so much so the Hilmers gave the property to their church
in the early 80's. Years later the property became owned by Peter O'Malley (no
relation to the Governor of Maryland) who was a lawyer. His partner came back
to visit this past summer to fill in the last piece of this most recent
history. He said it was Peter who got the state to take it over and Tom and
Brenda Ward turned it into the Inn in 1989.
Tracy and I were led here in the summer of 2007 and took over in July of
2010 - but that is another story... Suffice it to say that GOD is Good and HE
has blessed this sanctuary.
We hope you had a very thankful Thanksgiving, and we thank you all for
sharing in our blessings here at Black Walnut Point.
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