Sunrise Lake Superior - "The Light of the World"

 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

Crisp Point Lighthouse, Paradise - "The LORD Looks at the Heart"

 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

Whitefish Bay - "Boundless Love"

 Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

Michigan's Shipwreck Coastline - "As Light Exceeds Darkness"

 And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness.

Ecclesiastes 2:13

Whitefish Point, Shipwreck Coastline - "Wisdom"

 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 9:18

Mackinac Island - "The Eyes of the LORD"

 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are opened to their prayers.

1 Peter 3:12

Lake Superior, Marquette

 

Pictured Rocks National Seashore - "He Drew Me Out of Deep Waters"

 

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coasts blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering his canopy around him--
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Psalm 18:3-19

Marquette Lighthouse - Wings of the Morning

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the 

farthest limits f the sea, even there your had shall lead me, 

and your right hand shalt hold me fast.

Psalm 139:9-10 NRSV

Splendor is the Sun

 The pride of the higher realm is the clear vault of the sky,
as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.
The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises
what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.

Ecclesiasticus 43:1-2

The Lord is With You

 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:17-18 NIV

Whom Shall I Fear?

Psalm 27  "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Copper Harbor Light house

 Copper Harbor Light House is located in the harbor of Copper Harbor, Michigan on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan inside Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. It was a very windy day and cloudy.  My favorite poet all through high school was Edgar Allen Poe and his poem "In a kingdom by the sea...' of Annabel Lee.


Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,

   In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

   By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

   I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

   And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

   Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

   In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

   Of those who were older than we—

   Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

   Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

   In her sepulchre there by the sea—

   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

 

Edgar Allen Poe 1809–1849

 

Marquette Serenity

These pictures were taken driving around Lake Superior outside of Marquette.  The color, lines and shapes of the images surprise me.  There is a feeling of a still vastness with distinct shades of gray waters and blue skies.

Big Bay Lighthouse

 

 

Big Bay Lighthouse was converted into a Bed and Breakfast Inn and stands on a tall bluff
over a rocky point near Big Bay, Michigan, approximately 24 miles northwest of Marquette on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The grounds are beautiful but you will need a defense against the attack of black flies.  Thousands of black flies swarmed around us the entire time.  It was miserable fighting them off my face, arms and back.  When we got in the car, 100's flew into the car and it took a lot of swatting their bloody bodies all over the windows and dashboard and strong winds to get rid of them.  I had at least 50 bites so I do not recommend this bed and breakfast during the summer months when black flies thrive.  Mosquitoes hatch everywhere there's standing water. Black flies bedevil campers and hikers along Lake Superior, especially in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Black flies are hardest to avoid, since they attack the face and are nearly invisible except when they multiple in the thousands then you see a black cloud following you!

Eagle Harbor Light House

When we visited this lighthouse, it was a very chilly and windy day.  The doors were difficult to open and when I did, the wind slammed the door against the building and I had a hard time closing the door.  You could hear the wind slamming against the building and the windows were making crackling sounds.  I kept reminding myself it was a lighthouse and would be strong enough to handle the wind gusts.  Eagle Harbor Light is a working lighthouse at Eagle Harbor, in Keweenaw County in the state of Michigan

Marquette Harbor Lighthouse

A few pictures I took during a tour of the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse.

"Gitche Gumee...Never Gives up Her Dead"

Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, Paradise Michigan.  The Chippewa tribe called Lake Superior "Gitche Gumee 'never gives up her dead" due to so many shipwrecks, lack of recovery and the mystery of what happened.