Today, we got to see a bonus lighthouse. We didn’t have it on our original list of lighthouses, but realized it was only 25 minutes from our campsite.

This light (actually lights), is at the end of the pier, and is made up of two lights. The website, Southwest Michigan, says, “Having a range light system helps incoming vessels to enter the channel safely. When the lights align, they know they are on target to enter into the St. Joseph River.” 

These lights also have a “catwalk”, which is the black bridge structure that leads to, and connects, the two lighthouses.

The website, M Live, says, “That catwalk is an elevated walkway, constructed so that during high waves the lighthouse keeper could have safer access by entering the tower through a second-level entrance door.” (Personally, I couldn’t imagine traversing that catwalk if waves were pounding that high. Yikes!)

To me, the catwalk also looks like a bridge. At least, that’s how I talked about it to my kids as we did the devotion today. As I was reading my Bible last night, I read John 12, which is a turning point in the book of John. This is right after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and it includes the Triumphal Entry (celebrated as Palm Sunday).

But my Bible includes a footnote that says, “12:20-50 These verses conclude the first major part of John’s Gospel, which narrates Jesus mission to the Jews. The arrival of some Greeks signals to Jesus that the mission exclusively to the Jews is about to end.” Which is very good news for all of us non-Jewish people.

And, in John 12:35-36, Jesus tells the non-Jewish seekers this: “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

With these words, Jesus constructed a bridge (or catwalk, if you will) to the Gentiles, extending a way to the Father, far above the pounding waves of this world, so that we, too, can be sons (and daughters) of light.