Let The Lower Lights Be Burning

On a dark, stormy, night, when the waves rolled like mountains, and not a star was to be seen, a boat, rocking and plunging, neared the Cleveland harbor. "Are you sure this is Cleveland?" asked the captain, seeing only one light from the lighthouse.

"Quite sure, sir," replied the pilot.

"Where are the lower lights?"

"Gone out, sir."

"Can you make the harbor?"

"We must, or perish, sir!"

And with a strong hand and a brave heart, the old pilot turned the wheel. But alas, in the darkness he missed the channel, and with a crash upon the rocks the boat was slivered, and many a life lost in a watery grave.

This illustration by 1800's evangelist D. L. Moody concluded with an admonition, "Brethren, the Master will take care of the great lighthouse: let us keep the lower lights burning!" Inspired by this message of lives lost for want of direction," Philip Bliss penned his well-known hymn, "Let The Lower Lights Be Burning," in 1871.

Dangerous stretches of coastline were once dotted with lighthouses whose beacons guided ships to safety. In some cases, there were lights nearer the water or along the shore to provide additional illumination. These "lower lights" were especially critical in times of perilous seas when the great light alone was not sufficient.

As heartbreaks fill the news, society itself seems to be floundering on the rocky shoals of a growing list of troubles. Is there no great lighthouse by which to navigate? And where are the "lower lights" to shepherd us to safe harbor from the irresistible waves of wickedness pounding our schools, homes, and families?

Other nations have found refuge in calamitous days when great lighthouses have emerged to beam vision and hope. Winston Churchill was one of those.

In one of Britain's stormiest hours, he became their beacon: "You ask, 'What is our policy?' I will say; 'It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.'You ask, 'What is our aim?' I can answer with one word: 'Victory -- victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.'" Countless brave souls rallied and were saved.

With such moral commitment, decisiveness, and courage, could not our own president become such a lighthouse? Would not then we, as individuals, be inspired to rekindle "lower lights" of personal conviction, conscience, and moral uprightness that may be flickering? But a fog of self-inflicted woes envelops the Oval Office.

But let us keep the lower lights burning -- regardless. We must, or perish.

Copyright 1999 James McAlister

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