12/5/2009

Several years ago, our family ventured to New England for the turning of leaves and to become acquainted with this historically rich region of our beloved nation.

It was a crisp, clear October morning and we were following the itinerary my wife had planned to the Nth degree -- so as not to waist one precious moment of our prized venture.

As we skirted along the coast and neared a point on the outer rim of a harbor, we caught our first view of the lighthouse. What I noticed first was that we were nearly the only ones there. While the cylindrical tower seemed as structurally sound as in her maiden year, it sat dormant and minimally staffed.

As I scanned the rocky, jagged shores stretching into the distance, I attempted to imagine the thousands who had previously caught a glimpse of her once powerful beacon, acknowledging their precise locale by the knowledge of the particular light, pattern of beams and that unique, certain sound. Their fears of crashing into the outstretched craggy shores greatly diminished as the destined harbor of safety became clearly defined and moments away.

How many of these archaic and outdated behemoths line our coasts, sitting as monuments of days gone by? They give testimony to ways long ago abandoned, and as modern seamen pass by and catch a glimpse, they may lightly regard these lighthouses, having no idea how trustworthy these stalwart structures once were.

Instead, they glance down onto the dash to their global positioning screen and see their exact locale and the distance and time of their arrival at port.

Yet, with the significance of the lighthouses decreasing, they are maintained and are not removed, because there are those with wisdom reaching back beyond our advances, and they realize things happen. Electronic storms, computer crashes, viruses and errant software plague each step of our technological gains. In a moment, when ships are in precarious situations, the screen may flash "system crashed!"

In the midst of the darkness and raging billows are jagged cliffs awaiting that would rip their ship to shreds, and all that man has gained by their wisdom is relegated to nothing by the green screen flashing a useless haunting warning.

In that same moment, those old behemoths can be reawakened by those who spend the overwhelming portion of their time keeping all ready for just such an instant.

As fear overwhelms a crew scrambling to gain their composure as their ship is hurled closer to who-knows-what, through the sheets of rain there appears a beacon of light. Its presence not fully understood for the moment, nonetheless it's a ray of hope. The old seaman's eyes light up as he reaches past all the computer manuals, back into the obsolete -- once obsolete, and locates the dusty old navigational maps.

With exuberance he bellows out the name of the source of the light, and with a resurgence of confidence, the course is adjusted and certain tragedy curtailed. All because that which was abandoned and regarded as archaic revealed in perilous times its timeless purpose, its unchanging position and ever-present reliance.

As we skirt along in our era of convenience -- riding the adventurous waves on the open seas of ever changing morals and lifestyles -- routinely we read that which shocks and causes us to take a step back. Yet having witnessed the pattern already countless times, we realize in time, by shear repetition, the shock will wear away, and a new outer perimeter of the accepted is established -- and those so archaic as to question and raise concern, further reveal their narrow-mindedness and unwillingness to abandon old behemoths for the sake of human advancement.

Lifestyles once so clearly seen as deviant are now promoted as expressions of self-fulfillment. We look at this holiday season and reflect on this time of ingathering of family -- that being father, mother, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Not wishing any to be offended by holding up a standard to be sought for, so this God-given institution is tossed onto the grates of the altar of diversity, along with the still smoldering sacrifices of integrity, morality and ethics.

We look down on our dashboard with realization that we can go where we want, live with whom we wish, do what we like, have what we want. But then there are those pestering glitches and viruses in the system that simply won't go away. We read daily of the tragic consequences experienced by those who trust the empty promises of relativism, and plow blindly into the abyss of unchartered lifestyles. Lives are ruined or prematurely ended, the consequence of the faulty governance of fleeting desires, rather than age-old principles that are firmly grounded into the bedrock of civilized existence.

Yet, by the grace of God, there's one maintaining watch on those things abandoned. He's listening for the fearful cries of those awakened to the realization that the modern and convenient won't deliver in an immediate crisis. He then responds by flashing a beacon -- a drawing. Hope awakened, in desperation reaching back beyond all the ideas with shallow promises, to the old dusty black book in hopes of identifying where we are, and receiving guidance of how to locate His secure harbor.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. -- Matthew 11:28-29.

n Steven Carrier is the pastor of the Landmark Apostolic Church and the host of "Rightly Dividing the Word" at 8 a.m. Sundays on radio station KSAL.

---

Discuss This Story:

---