{"id":685,"date":"2015-03-22T16:13:30","date_gmt":"2015-03-22T20:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=685"},"modified":"2015-03-22T16:15:12","modified_gmt":"2015-03-22T20:15:12","slug":"the-lighthouse-and-the-lightkeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=685","title":{"rendered":"The Lighthouse and the Lightkeeper"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Lighthouse and the Lightkeeper \nBy \nJoseph Anthony Petro<\/p>\n
The Lightkeeper climbed the spiral stairs he had built \nMany years before, illuminating his own way as he went. \nArriving at the barely burning light, in the sea-whispered darkness \nHe trimmed the wick, like a gardener pruning a flower. \nShrouded in salt-scented silence the wick wept in pain and gratitude. \nThe Lightkeeper knew all about the storm-swirled foundations \nOf the lighthouse–her laborious beginnings and genuine attempts \nTo remain solid and in good standing with a shore covered with rocks and waves, \nAnd an ocean full of lost vessels–untethered, uncaptained, bobbing \nIn their own sickness, void of direction, unsure of the way ahead, \nLost without rudder or sail. The Lightkeeper knew them each by name. \nHe knew their voyages, their origins, who built them and set them sailing, \nHe knew where they wanted to go. He knew the emptiness in their hulls, \nAnd their desire for treasure. He knew their wheels longed to be held and steered \nDespite their cries to be left alone. \nHe knew he wanted each and every one of them safe in the harbor. \nHe knew all about the ideas that the wind-tossed-tide threw around like little shells\u2014 \nIdeas that say the world no longer needs lighthouses, \nIdeas that say it is somehow wrong to shine, or wrong to want or need \nTo be rekindled by another, that the ships are perfectly fine \nDrifting as they are with their own unique and uncriticizable navigation equipment. \nInto these ideas he simply implanted the sound of the sea. \nHaving finished his trimming for now, the Lightkeeper \nTouched his light to the wick with all of the tenderness \nOf an angel kissing the forehead of a sleeping infant, \nAnd when spark caught spark and the light of the lighthouse \nBegan to blaze, filling the space with warmth and steadiness \nShip after ship began sailing for home, and the lighthouse \nRemembered why she was there and how important \nHer mission was. And then the Lightkeeper \nLooked at her flame dancing in the light of his light and said: \n\u201cThis is my Beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.\u201d<\/h5>\n