The Deep and the Harbor

* I actually wrote this a few years ago. I dug it up today because I know some people who may be able to relate. I love the imagery of a lighthouse on a dark and lonely night. And of finding the strength to go just a little farther.

It is dark, and the ocean is deep. I am lost and alone. The wind is gone and my sails hang limp on the slender mast. I am tired from rowing. I cannot carry on. Around me, the water’s icy blackness speaks silently of the souls it has claimed in its solemn and lonely tomb. Above it, I look from my tiny craft and consider the peace it offers: darkness, silence and the end of mortal strife. A breath, a twitch and the descent into the abyss, cruel mercy at the hands of the unnatural demise. Nonetheless, a twisted and wicked sort of peace. In the slivered moonlight the silent waters beckon. I almost slip quietly into the arms of darkness, when suddenly I am drawn from my mournful reverie by the faintest glimmer from a distant lighthouse: Hope. Safety.

Renewed, I take up my oars and row. The slightest breeze begins to blow and I continue my journey toward the safe harbor. I will yet plant my feet on solid ground. I will rest upon the protected shore.

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I am not much of a writer, but tonight as I kneel before the feet of heaven and reflect on mortality I feel the weight of life upon my shoulders. At moments I look and do not see the way before me. I feel much like the forlorn sailor who is lost and alone on a seemingly endless sea. Tonight as I thought of that sailor, this scene opened upon my mind and I felt I had to write it down. The story is not actually about the sea and its depth and darkness. It is about the lighthouse and its fleeting, momentary flash of light in the dark which tells the sailor that he is finally nearing the shore, and his journey’s end. When I am down and discouraged, I look for the lighthouse and that glimpse on the horizon that gives me the courage to move.

My troubles are nothing special. My issues are no bigger than any other person’s. However, they are mine, and they are real. Just as yours are. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with struggling in life. What is important during such times is to focus on the reasons you must continue on your journey. Remembering these reason’s will provide the courage to move. Then we must seek out the Spirit in all we do and cling to it like life itself. I believe (and it is a personal belief) that once we can believe in these things, and feel and follow the Spirit given to us from Heaven, that eventually we will see the lighthouse, and find the shore, and reach the journey’s end. We were meant to pass through tribulation. We were also meant to have joy. The night will not last forever and at its end is the sunrise, and the promise of a new day. We will find the lighthouse, and make it safely to the shore.