The Lighthouse

                                                              

                                                                 The Lighthouse

The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message" "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."

There are two main features of a lighthouse.  One is obviously the light beacon that shines far out across the sea to guide ships or to warn them of danger on the shoreline or reef.  The other characteristic is the horn that does the same thing in the realm of sound. 

Listen to the Lighthouse Foghorn

A lighthouse, however, is to me much more than just a light and a sound.  It's a powerful symbol of something greater in the human experience.   Just like myths, symbols are deeply important.  They can represent something of profound value, even down to the base of our very existence.  For example, the American flag symbolizes liberty and freedom, a symbol which, when dishonored, may jeopardize a precious part of our beingness.

Now, what is light?  And what is sound?   Well, they're both vibration, vibrating waves of energy that are related, just as are thunder and lightning.  Life itself is vibrating, pulsing energy, even our bodies which give us the illusion of solidity but are, at the core, vibrating balls of energy.  And that vibration shows up as light and sound. 

Somehow at the very  beginning we venture out on the ocean of life.  Our ships rise and fall on a constantly moving, sometimes turbulent sea. We sail that sea of life, gaining experience that can't be gotten cloistered away someplace from the world. Sailors, braving the wind and the tide, found distant lands, new worlds and treasure to bring back with them. 

So, to me, the lighthouse is not just a beacon of light and sound.  It's a symbol of the energy that courses out from a point of stability on the shore of the sea of life. We are always in contact with that light and sound. Call it what you will,  it’s a sustaining vibration.

Can you see that light?  Can you hear that sound? From off in the distance that beacon is available to guide us back to shore.

Listen to the Lighthouse Foghorn