Ever since I could remember I loved lighthouses. As a child they looked like fun structures to explore. Crazy stairs, little buildings nearby, and oddly shaped rooms.
Each looked different on the outside too. Varying colors, shapes, height and of course stories. Not just stories as in floors, but legends about ships, sailors and the keepers who kept them up and running.
These days they are automated (if they even work at all) and gone are the times of the lonely lighthouse keeper. On the other end, the need for lighthouses are not as pressing either. GPS and good maps not only provide solid coordinates of where you are, but they also include every rock and shallow to avoid.
But the beauty and idea of the Lighthouse is still the same. They are beacons of hope for the lost and weary.
When you are proverbially lost at sea, all systems are down and hope is limited – the idea of a beacon of light seems intoxicating. I can only imagine sailors in the past or even someone on a small rescue boat in 2022 floating along in a storm, in the dark, being cold, tired and hungry… then seeing a lighthouse! Knowing that safety and land are close by. Hope is restored. There is a chance of making it, and soon!!
Even if a [proverbial] sailor doesn’t need to stop, lighthouses are aids to navigation. They help to inform of whether or not you are on the right course.
The lighthouse is a helper, there if you need it and just looking beautiful and stately if you do not.
It can help to guide you securely in and out of a safe harbor. They are there to help keep you from danger.
Their light breaks through the darkness.
We need that kind of aid for hope today. Not only in our own backyard, but around the world. The first place that comes to mind is the Ukraine. They need to see hope. We all do.
I made these cookies at the end of this year, 2022 as a sign of hope, a beacon of light for things to come as we rip off the last page on the calendar and begin again.
Hope, peace, love… We can get there. It’s not impossible with all the love to go around, all the people who care, and all the aids we have to navigate us in the right direction.
I still LOVE lighthouses. I now photograph, draw and paint them. It’s the closest I can get to experiencing them other than popping by to visit them when I can.
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