Confessions of a Lighthouse Addict

If I’m honest, I can be a bit obsessive at times, at least with certain, particular things.  All it would take is a glance at my Hot Wheels collection and chances are, you would agree.  Apart from 1:43 scale models, one of those things I like to “collect” is lighthouses – or more specifically, lighthouse photos. Best guess (since my obsession has not yet devolved into the creation of a list) is we’ve photographed somewhere between 50 and 75 lighthouses over the years. But, as it is with human nature, enough is never enough, so this summer, we set out in search of about as many lighthouses as we could find.  We found a lot – over twenty – most of them ones we had not yet visited. 

Truth be told, I love lighthouses.  My wife and I both do.  They have been an important fixture in the background of many of my fondest memories. Bryn and I’s first official date was to St Augustine Lighthouse. On our honeymoon, before the days of Google Maps, and with GPS still in its infancy, we scoured Nova Scotia in search of these beacons. As a kid, one of my fondest memories is of summer evenings spent at Great Island Common, literally surrounded by lighthouses – three to be exact.  Over the years, our family has explored dozens – and climbed to the top of just about every light we found that would allow it.

This time around, our expedition centered around the Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts.  We visited the easternmost lighthouse in the United States, West Quoddy Light, and the easternmost lighthouse on Nova Scotia’s coast, Louisbourg Lighthouse.  We visited many iconic lighthouses which have graced the covers of calendars, screensavers and magazines alike, such as Nova Scotia’s Peggy’s Cove Light and Maine’s Portland Head Light, as well as less frequented, but no less picturesque beacons such as Low Point Lighthouse near Sydney, Nova Scotia and Squirrel Point Light in Arrowsic, Maine.   It was a grand, light-peeping adventure!

But we’re not alone. For many, Lighthouses hold a special, magnetic mystique.  They act as symbols of hope, safety, security, vigilance, permanence and so much more.  In Christian circles, the lighthouse is commonplace. Many churches, schools and other ministries carry the moniker of the humble lighthouse. In Jacksonville alone, you have Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, Spiritual Lighthouse Church, Lighthouse Prayer Center, Lighthouse Baptist Church, and Lighthouse Christian School, to name but a few. And, if you’re looking for the tallest lighthouse in Jacksonville, don’t look to the 81-foot-tall St Johns River Light. Instead, you’ll find it smack dab in the middle of downtown Jacksonville, towering 100 feet into the sky, attached to the parking garage of First Baptist Church. 

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16, NASB 1995

And it’s no wonder Christians are attracted to the lighthouse and so much of what it represents. The above passage reminds us of Christ’s call to be like a city on a hill, letting the light of Christ (who himself is the Light of the world – John 1:4,5) shine in our life and conduct that people might see our Lightward pointing good works, and glorify God. And just like the glowing lights of a mountaintop city that beckon the sojourner home, the lighthouse, and its beam of night-piercing light, calls to the wayward sailor, beaconing them to the safe harbor beyond. May it ever be that my obsession with lighthouses never outpaces my love for the one, true Lighthouse! In the words of My Lighthouse by Rend Collective, might we live to display and proclaim the excellencies of Christ, our Lighthouse:

My Lighthouse, my lighthouse
Shining in the darkness, I will follow You
My Lighthouse, my lighthouse
I will trust the promise,
You will carry me safe to shore

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