Lighthouses

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lighthouse
It is the one orderly product our middling race has produced. It is the cry of a thousand sentinels, the echo from a thousand labyrinths; it is the lighthouse which cannot be hidden the best evidence we can give of our dignity.

E. M. Forster
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From his lighthouse evermore,
But to us he gives the keeping Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning; Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save.
Dark the night of sin has settled; Loud the angry billows roar.
Eager eyes are watching, longing,For the lights along the shore.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor, In the darkness may be lost

A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef. Navjot Singh Sidhu

Spencer W Kimball in 1980 said, “The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 4.)

President Joseph F. Smith said: “One fault to be avoided by the Saints, young and old, is the tendency to live on borrowed light, with their own hidden under a bushel; to permit the savor of their salt of knowledge to be lost; and the light within them to be reflected, rather than original. … “Men and women should become settled in the truth, and founded in the knowledge of the gospel, depending upon no person for borrowed or reflected light, but trusting only upon the Holy Spirit, who is ever the same, shining forever and testifying to the individual and the priesthood, who live in harmony with the laws of the gospel, of the glory and the will of the Father. They will then have light everlasting which cannot be obscured. By its shining in their lives, they shall cause others to glorify God; and by their well-doing put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, and show forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939, pp. 87–88; italics added.)


Elder Heber C. Kimball spoke of the need for each individual to have a testimony. “To meet the difficulties that are coming, it will be necessary for you to have a knowledge of the truth of this work for yourselves. … The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand?” (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City, Bookcraft Inc., 1945, page 450).


In every condition, in sickness, in health; In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.


I am reminded of a story of a huge battleship at night which was plowing through unfamiliar waters, when they noticed in the dark waters ahead a light flashing them to change course. The communications officer of the huge battleship, knowing how hard it was to change course in a large ship such as theirs sent a message telling the other ship to get out of the way or risk getting run over. The message came back that the warship had to move. Furious, the communications officer decided he had better get the admiral of the battleship involved. The admiral told the other ship to move out of their path or risk getting rolled. Again the returning message indicated that he wouldn't be able to comply and that the warship had better move. The angry admiral said, "This is an admiral of a USS Warship we don't move for anybody - I am giving you one last warning - move, or be run over" The message that came back was sobering "Admiral, I apologize that I’m not able to comply with your request. I may not be an admiral, nor a sailor. But as I sit here in this lighthouse tonight, I’m telling you for the 4th time if you don’t want to run aground on this rocky shoal, you had better start turning immediately.

We are watchers of a beacon Whose light must never die; We are guardians of an altar
’Midst the silence of the sky. Here the rocks yield founts of courage, Struck forth as by thy rod;

A lighthouse is a device of salvation. It is built on a foundation so solid that it can withstand the rising tides and the pounding of the surf. It holds lamps of such power that their protective lights cut through massive storm clouds shrouding and hiding the dangers ahead. It provides direction and guidance to sailors who are lost in the storm. It protects ships as they wander lost near craggy rocks. There are also lights of less intensity which run along the shore so that as a ship nears the lighthouse, it can see exactly where danger lies. If a lighthouse is not lit due to negligence of the caretakers, or due to damage to the tower or lamps, the risk is high that a captain who is expecting to see a safety light will plow right into the reefs . In that sense, even though the captain might never get acquainted with the crew on shore, yet his life is dependent on them.

In like manner – each of us as members of the Lord’s church are beacon’s to the world. People look to us to see what is acceptable and what is decent. They often will avoid swearing in our presence. They won’t smoke around us. They don’t tell immoral stories or experiences around us. They may even coverup more when we go swimming together. They may not appreciate it when we ‘preach’ doctrines or standards to them…but they respect us and our standards just the same.

I joined a small group of coworkers from Intel at a dinner in Denmark. Some were locals, others were like me traveling from the US. One in the group’s name was Gary. He was a friend of sorts. We respected one another, but we probably wouldn’t have considered ourselves close enough to ‘hang-out’. Gary was a hard-nosed personality from Chicago and I sensed much of the success he enjoyed in the company was due to his ability to intimidate and overwhelm others with his brashness and his coarse sense of humor. He never hesitated to embarrass others. However at the dinner when Gary was telling a story he accidentally blurted out several profanities. As he said them, he stopped, and looking at me, said “I’m sorry Bret, I didn’t mean to go off like that. I know that your religion doesn’t approve of swearing.” Two things struck me. First was his sincerity. He wasn’t aplogizing, to embarrass me or to mock my beliefs. I sensed he had a great deal of respect for a people that had standards on language and drinking. It was as if he was trying to quit and found that it was very difficult, and he was happy to see that there were still people around who didn’t swear. Second, I noticed that there were women present. But it wasn’t the women he apologized to, it was the mormon in the group. People are watching us as a guide.

Like the lighthouse, we are built on the one rock that will not move. It won’t shift like sand when the waters and the waves pound on it. All other religions, standards of ethics, will shift and will eventually collapse, because they are not built on the rock of Christ. They speak of Christ. They believe they are doing Christ’s will as they fight the mormons, or as they follow their own hearts and take on ministries of peace. But all the ministries of good will never bring down the enemy that is seeking to destroy us. It is only through following a prophet of God who is following Christs will, and using Christ’s priesthood that will be able to save us.

It may be of note, that as the shipping lanes get more crowded, and as getting into and out of dangerous ports is also becoming more complex with bigger ships, we have found another way to guide our ships. Powerful navigation tools which can assess sea depth, which can use GPS positioning to identify risks and exact location of the ship, and automated warnings of dangers ahead make it so our ships can navigate even the roughest seas . The need for a lighthouse may fade…but the need for standards in navigating and the need for tools to guide us is more important than ever Just as simple guides of the past, like lighthouses, have had to be replaced by modern navigational tools, so our standards for avoiding the dangers of this modern world need to be recalibrated and redefined to more clearly help us avoid the hazards which would destroy us. Who makes tools of this complexity and uses the heavens to get our GPS signals in tune? The prophets and apostles define these standards and tools which we use to protect us in modern times.

Also, if the lighthouse (or other navigational tool) is not working when it is needed, it is worse than if the captain didn’t have the tools in the first place. This is because he will put his trust into the tools until he realizes that the ship is using false information and is heading into danger, perhaps until it is everlastingly too late to adjust. As a member of the church, if we live contrary to the standards we know to be true, then we do more damage to those who look to us as an example, than a non-member does who isn’t living any standards of gospel.

When I was a young man living in Texas our Priest Quorum went to the Guadaloupe River to ride down in rafts and canoes. As we navigated the river, it was clear that if we stayed in the center of the river everything would be okay. But as we floated down, we passed under a warning sign that said “Danger – Horseshoes Falls ahead. Take out your canoe and walk downstream to avoid. 12 people have died. “ The thing that made this sign memorable was that the number 12 had been crossed out and replaced with a 13. And the 13 had been crossed out and replaced with a 14. And the 14 had been crossed out replaced with a 15. It was enough to motivate me and my partner to pull our boats out. However, there were 2 in our group – Blake and John – who ignored the sign and decided they wanted to ‘shoot’ the falls. As they approached they suddenly lost their nerve and dove out of the boat and swam like mad, crazy people, hoping to reach safety. They arrived safely to shore, but their boat went over the falls and ultimately was lost – buried under the trecherous undercurrents. If we hadn’t given heed to the warnings given us, we too would have been lost.

Now is the time for lighthouses. We need a thousand points of light to show the way to go. We need more sophisticated tools for navigating safely through the waters in which we travel. This world is becoming more and more lost in the storm of hedonism. Standards are falling all over the world. People are becoming more focused on following their own appetites and stimulations, in finding pleasure, riches, or power which causes storms between them and all those who they are connected to. Only those who are grounded on the rock of Christ will be able to withstand the constant pounding of the rising tides. When we arrive safely at the safe harbor and meet safely on the shore, we shall be filled with love for each other, and for those who stood amongst the rocky shoals shining the light to help guide us safely to shore.