Welp, Summer came and went, and our family didn’t do much vacationing at all. We started the summer off with a bang between two kids in Driver’s Training, a barrage of appointments for four children and a bevy of “theater stuff” that took up quite a bit of time. We have gotten out and about, but it hasn’t been quite the same. July has two family birthdays plus, Niki and I have our anniversary right in the middle, so in July the festivities are plentiful. This past July was our 25th Anniversary! We plan on heading somewhere a bit warmer when it gets colder but for now, we decided a trip to Manistee for just the two of us would suffice until then.

We had an amazing time walking through town, visiting shops, eating food, and drinking an assortment of beverages. The town was busy but not like many Lake Michigan beach towns. Manistee feels a bit more like a small town then a tourist town which was a nice change of pace.

When I travel to a Lake Michigan beach, I have a ritual of how a person can best maximize and balance their fun and relaxation. After positioning your towels in a way as to have a view of the water without having to look like you are staring at other people when you are just trying to be hypnotized by the big lake’s dance. Staying away from people is a real challenge at the beach. Word’s gotten out and it is kinda a big deal. I have found that the busiest parts of beaches are busy because they have the things people all want. Most people want the water no more than 30 feet from them. Not me. When you’re close to the water, you’re close to kids running through your aura fence and I didn’t sign up for that. The other thing people like is the concession stand. The problem with that one is that the concession stand also means the bathrooms. I don’t need to tell you that if you are going to have a couple drinks at the beach, you are going to want the bathrooms.

We found a place that conflicted with enough other people’s needs that it met ours and we moved on to the swimming portion. It is valid that swimming may also include within its definition, “dipping at least 3/4 of ones’ body into the water”. The wet human then may traverse the beaches shoreline until coming upon the lake town’s crown jewel, the pier and lighthouse.

I grew up following that rhythm of being at the beach to the extent that I can still hear Lake Michigan waves that echo from somewhere deep. The heat emanating from the concrete on the pier would burn your feet until you found temporary solace on a shaded portion. There is always a steady stream of people walking out and then back in from the end of the pier. Everyone wants to walk down to the light house and grab a picture or two. Depending on the day, there may be a little more fear as you make your way down. I’ve walked down before as waves were crashing against the sea walls, exploding into a million droplets of ice-cold water. On a summer day, it’s amazing. On a winter day, I bet that’s another story.

The pier and lighthouse, in Manistee, has an old metal scaffolding type structure, that runs the length of the pier to the lighthouse. I don’t think all the lighthouses on piers have them but a good amount of them do. There’s a sign at the stairs to the elevated walkway telling people to stay from the structure but also it explains the purpose of the walkway. You see, when the waves on Lake Michigan get high, like 10-20 feet high, they may have to get to the lighthouse in those conditions. The pier isn’t really going to be walkable but the elevated walkway, with the practiced and trained technician, can provide a way to be a warning to all who pass by.

I was looking through some of those pictures today and some include the pier, the lighthouse and that structure. I have been reminding myself over the last couple of weeks that we encounter the divine every day, but the question is are we alert to see, hear, taste, feel and or experience it. So today, that walkway over the pier, was a call to me to be better. The stroll on the pier is beautiful. It’s a path to the lighthouse, there are people to greet on the way, and all feels right in the world. Sometimes, all is not right in the world. OK, I know that things have had a way of being cray, at least for a few thousand years but it really seems crazy has come home to play. Getting to the lighthouse right now, whether to send signal for help or a signal to warn of danger, is not even a possibility for some right now. For the trained practitioner, for the practiced up and capable, now is time to climb those stairs and make our way to the lighthouse. Too many are under fire, under threat and even injured from this fight.

Lake Michigan is large enough to have tides and swells of varying amount. The currents are strong enough to claim many lives each year. When storms come up, you may have minutes to respond before being lost in waves large enough to sink ocean going vessels. The tides and currents have shifted to forget about things like kindness, mercy, joy, peace and patience. The currents have brought with them a thirst for retribution with a hint of dehumanizing. Too many are buying at the fire sale on demonizing people in need. There are rising cheers for the inhumane treatment of living breathing people. It is so far beyond a name or a logo it is in the hearts of people. That is why it is so necessary now for those who are strong enough, to be a light.

The elevated path is not some perfect metaphor for the time and place we find ourselves in. What it was for me was a way to get a slightly different view of the same diamond that showed me a flash of God. I know it was God because it told me, in the most loving sort of way, that I’ve got something to change. That change is in me but is also evidenced in all of the world. There is an energy in so many others, seeing the connection in it all and there is a power to that. I want to be the type of person who partners with that energy. The energy that reminds us to do what is good and lovely. Not out of obligation or compulsion but because you see the way that we are all bound up with one another. Another human’s good news is my good news. Their pain is my pain. In doing good, we urge and encourage each other on to do good and to receive goodness because the source is the same.

Go, do good, for the good of the world. Rise above the waves if you can. There’s a beacon that needs to be lit as a welcome to the lonely, hurt and hungry that land is ahead with rest on its shores. The light house is also a warning to the vulnerable that there are dangers all around. Be on the lookout for a sharp tongue, a rocky heart or a people moved too easily by the waves of deceit. To those things, the lighthouse is bad news. It robs them of their prize, another broken vessel. To those who see welcome for all by its beacon, be welcome and find the welcome of others. I think it is there we find life.