The Lighthouse Keeper of Peggy's Cove

In 1998, when Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic just off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, it was the local fishermen who responded first. They had spent their whole lives reading the water — every shift in current, every change in wind. That September night, they heard the distant thunder of impact and knew immediately something was terribly wrong. While others slept, these men launched their boats into black, churning seas.

They didn't wait for official orders. They didn't need a news broadcast to tell them what the signs meant. Decades of watchfulness had trained their instincts. They simply went.

Jesus tells His disciples that there will be signs — in the sun, the moon, the stars, in the roaring of the sea. Nations will be in anguish. People will faint from terror. And when these things begin to happen, He says something stunning: "Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

The fishermen of Peggy's Cove didn't run from the dark water. They moved toward it, because they understood what was happening.