Exhibit 37 – Navigation Lights

Exhibit 37 – Navigation Lights
This painting was inspired by a prophetic picture given to my wife Kathy and I on November 12th, 2014, which saw us going out in a boat in the driving rain with an old lantern, to rescue people who have been abandoned by the world, but whom God wants to rescue. All others had given up on them, but we found them. It was seen as part of a ‘Mercy ministry’ and we were gifted because of the experiences we had lived through. The picture was also part of some advice about looking for navigation lights when determining our steps of faith for the future. We were both retiring from our careers at the time and looking for what God wanted of us in retirement.
It also embodies a favourite song of Colin’s, ‘Faithful One’ by Brian Doerksen.
Faithful one, so unchanging,
Ageless one,
You’re my rock of peace,
Lord of all I depend on You,
I call out to You, again and again,
I call out to You, again and again .
You are my rock in times of trouble,
You lift me up when I fall down.
All through the storm,
Your love is the anchor.
My hope is in You alone.

The actual composition was inspired from the story and paintings documenting Grace Darling who lived up in my part of the world in Victorian England. On 7th September 1838, a terrible storm hit the Farne Islands and a paddle-steamer, the Forfarshire, making its way to Dundee, was blown off course and was wrecked off the Farne Islands. The ship broke in half, and many of the 60 or so souls aboard were quickly lost to the waves. However, as visibility improved, 22-year-old Grace and her parents on Longstone could see several survivors clinging to rocks and wreckage. Conditions were still terrible, and the sea was too rough for the lifeboat to be launched from the harbour at nearby North Sunderland (Seahouses). Despite the danger of a rescue attempt, Grace and her father climbed into a small boat and rowed to the survivors, and Grace kept the boat steady while her father helped four men and one woman into the boat.