I Believe it is Over There
I was born in Leonardtown, Maryland at St. Mary’s Hospital. A few years ago, in 2012, St. Mary’s Hospital celebrated its 100th birthday. In 1912, the original founders started their efforts to bring a facility to the Southern Maryland region. Soon they moved into a two story house. They moved a few times and finally settled into a place where the hospital I was born in would eventually be after a few additions. After I was born, they added a two story brick addition.
The hospital was also a pioneer in the region. It helped bring this region a more adequate health care option. On their 100th year anniversary video, one of the pediatric doctors described the pediatric facility, probably about the time I was born, as, “…One big hall with 5-6 cribs next to each other.” Vinod K. Shah, MD, a Cardiology doctor, described the frequency of the visits of heart doctors as, “…You had to schedule a heart attack.” Despite it all, I lived through it.
In 1984, the hospital moved to a different location. The new hospital is now called, MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital. In 2013, this new hospital had 56,482 emergency room visits. I have never been there, but in listening to the video it sounds quite impressive, especially if you compare it to the original two story house they started out with.
There is no plaque at the old hospital marking the spot I was born. In fact, it might even be a parking lot now. Some of the younger people might not even know the lot and building that sit there now is where many were brought into this world. People probably come to the new hospital needing treatment. Some will get good news that they will get well in a short time. Some will get bad news and may never even leave the hospital again. I’m sure that whether it is good news, like a child’s birth, or bad news, like there is a terminal condition, the emotions people feel really have no ties to a new hospital or an old hospital. It is the event that overshadows the location.
How would you like some fishing news? Do you want to know of a pretty good place to go fish? How about Jackman Reservoir in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire? Rainbow and brown trout are released from fishing farms into the lake, but there are also small mouth bass, pickerel, white perch, blue gill, northern pike, black crappie, and horned pout or bullhead as some call them, to be caught. Although the trout are called very good eating fish, it is not recommended that you eat the bass, as the mercury levels in them might not be good for you. Because the trout are farm raised, apparently they don’t contain the same mercury levels.
Jackman Reservoir is a 520 acre lake that sits right outside the town of Hillsborough, New Hampshire. There is about seven miles of shoreline on this lake which is about two miles long and a half mile wide. The mean depth is about fifteen feet and it can get as deep as 31 feet. There is also a dam that they use to start lowering the water levels after Labor Day. It will be refilled by Memorial Day with the winter snows and the spring rains.
In 1926, the Jackman Dam and Power Plant dammed the north branch of the Contoocook River to form the lake. The lake also serves as a water storage and supply source. Power boating, water skiing, tubing, and sailing can also be done on this lake. In the winter you can catch people ice fishing, even late at night. There is also a no-wake zone for those who would rather canoe or kayak. Most of the area around the lake is wooded and the only public boat ramp is at a small park, Manahan Park, at the end of the lake.
There is a place from the Bible that a lot of people like to visit. To get there you have to walk through the “Door of Humility.” The door is only five feet high, so if you are an average height adult or taller you need to bend over a little bit or you will hit your head. The whole complex is about 14,000 square yards, which is bigger than two football fields. Once you come to the altar you need to take the stone steps down to the underground grotto.
Whether you are a Biblical scholar or even if you don’t believe at all, there has always been debate if this is really the place. It was first built in 326 AD on orders by Constantine, the first “Christian” Roman Emperor. It was destroyed in 529 AD when the Byzantines sacked the city to crush the Samaritan Revolt. It was rebuilt by Justinian I, the Byzantine Emperor, around 565 AD. The Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church have fought over it ever since. Eventually the Muslims built a mosque right next door.
It is the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. It is where tradition states Jesus was born. How do they know this is where Jesus was born or was He even born here at all, has always caused much debate. Many theories exist to why this is the place. Some said Mary might have brought the disciples back here to show them where her Son was born. Some say that once Mary’s breast milk spilled on the floor and once it hit the floor everything, the walls and ceiling, all turned white. Some say the word “Inn” could be translated into a family dwelling. These people go on to say the actually place Mary and Joseph stayed was at a family member’s house and it could have been full that night and the relatives, seeing Mary’s condition, could have said, “But I do have this little place out back.” Regardless of any of the claims, this is where many come to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Jackman Reservoir, according to lakelubbers.com, states that it is the “…only lake in the country with a former president’s birthplace under its waters.” Jackman Reservoir maybe better known by its other name: Franklin Pierce Lake. Under its waters rest the birthplace of our fourteenth President, Franklin Pierce.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.” Very often we get caught up in the “where” things happen. See that parking lot over there, that’s where I was born. See that lake over there, that’s where I was born. See that church over there, go down a few steps and that is where I was born. Maybe it’s not where we were born that is really all that important. Maybe it’s more important if we “do things worth the writing” in His Book.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Thank you for the fun it brings to show someone where I was born or where I did this or that. Help me to not to lose sight of the fact that it is what I do and not where I do it that makes the most difference. Amen.
