The visit to the Grotto in Portland was added to our journey by Margaret. She suggested we needed some quiet time. The title image of the prayer labyrinth is an invitation to participate in a walking meditation. The images in the garden are points of contemplation. Places to pause. Opportunities to consider traditions of contemplation.

The towering moss covered sign between the evergreens marks the path of peace. The light falls equally on the trees and the sign. This week I needed to see peace when I thought there was none. I needed a moment in the garden.

There between the cherubim we enter the courtyard walking toward an old St Anne chapel.

We paused in the courtyard and asked the gardner to take a picture of us on the steps. We thanked him and acknowledged his loving work. The gardner simply said that this was the Almighty’s doing and all he was doing was a little touch up.

After an hour in these gardens we paused in the mediation chapel and sat in a few leather chairs. The world was below our feet and the replica of Michelangelo’s Pieta (Mary holding the body of her dead son) in front of us. The death like every death was unnatural. The serenity of the gardens a reminder that every tree, whether pruned by wind or gardener grows toward the light. I was no longer alone. I walked a few steps with my friend.