When I walk the two short blocks from my home to the shore of Lake Ontario, one of the first sights to greet me is a lighthouse just acros the bay.  Seeing it lifts my spirits, and I recall with pleasure the many other lighthouses I have seen, visited, or climbed when travelling.

In form and function, lighthouses have a lot in common with church buildings.   The oldest lighthouses date back to Roman times - maybe even earlier.  Found in many places around the world, lighthouses come in various architectural styles.  The ones that are especially picturesque or well-situated attract many visitors.  And, like church buildings both old and new, lighthouses provide the images for many calendars, postcards, and mementos.

When a lighthouse functions properly, it provides direction and guidance for folk as they journey.  Like medieval cathedrals, lighthouses point upward, leading the eye to the heavens.  Many lighthouse operations have doubled as sea-rescue services, saving people from drowning in the literal storms of this world.

Technological and other changes have meant that lighthouses are not as necessary now as they were in the past.  Many have been automated and need little human attention, so fewer and fewer people centre their work and lives on operating a lighthouse.  Some lighthouses have been transferred to different private and public uses, while others have been abandoned and left derelict.

It's hard to know what the future will bring either for lighthouses or for the many church buildings that can no longer serve the purpose for which they were built.  The question will continue to loom large in the United Church as more and more congregations find it increasingly difficult to maintain their building.

Given that the seed for future life and growth is often to be found in the past, I was intrigued to learn that some early "lighthouses" were not special buildings but simply seaside monasteries where monks held lamps in the high windows.

Whatever happens to the buildings we know and love, if we are open to the Spirit's leading, God's people will always find ways to be together, will fashion places to gather, and will develop the means to let God's light shine for the sake of the world God loves.     

O God of sea and sky,

This bark is small and leaky,

These hands are shaky,

Companions are few.

Light Eternal,

Storm clouds are gathering,

Swells are mounting,

Shoreline is hazy.

Guide me to a secure and faithful place,

Lead me home.

Amen

(from Where the Spirit Dwells - Lenten Reflections on Home  by Glenys M Huws;, published by the United Church Publishing House, 2007; p. 88-89.   Used with permission of both author and publisher.]