The lamp of life

A friend sent this along and I give it to you today. . .

“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”

Rabindranath Tagore

Lighthouses: Let There Be Light

"In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:78-80

The title of this blog, Fiat Lux ("Let there be light") seems particularly apt in Epiphany, the season of light. And while you can't see it very well, the motif of the blog includes a lighthouse in the upper left corner.

Lighthouses have a storied history. They've guided mariners for centuries, only recently replaced by high-tech radars and GPS systems. Many lighthouses are still functioning, each unique monuments to the men and women they've guided to safety.

My friend Brian Baer, a former photographer with The Sacramento Bee, now works for the California State Parks Department, and he's been documenting the lighthouses along the Pacific coastline of California. His photographs are stunning, and I share a few with you today from the Pigeon Point Lighthouse which is about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Brian wrote this:

The 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872 but is closed to the public public but the grounds remain open. In December 2001, a section of the cornice on the exterior of the lighthouse fell off. It is estimated that it will take $12 million to refurbish the lighthouse.

Photos by Brian Baer.