A father and son were fishing beyond the breakwater of San Diego Harbor. It had been a long day, so they decided to hoist anchor and head toward the dock. As night fell the father decided to give his son a lesson in navigation. He pointed out the Big Dipper and showed him how to identify the Little Dipper. From these two reference points he showed him how to find Polaris.
Turning the wheel over to his son he gave him these instructions: “Just run along parallel with the North Star on your port side and you will be going east toward the harbor.” Dad went to the stern of the boat to take a little nap. The son became drowsy at the helm. As he dozed, the boat made a slow turn toward starboard in a southerly direction. Awaking with a start, the son didn’t realize that his guiding star was now behind him. He called out to his father: “Dad, wake up and give me another star, we just sailed right on past that other one!”
Those of us who live in the 21st century are tempted to think that we have gone beyond the guiding lights of the ancient past. The 10 commandments sound so old and obsolete; surely we need a more contemporary standard of ethics to chart our course.
I beg to differ. For thousands of years, ancient mariners have used the sun by day and the stars by night to plot their course and keep an accurate chart of their position. There are some things that are the same, yesterday, today, and forever, because they are grounded in the unchangeable and immutable nature of deity.
In my view, these pinpricks of lights from the past are our best reference points to navigate on the sea of life. In the Book of Revelation the Savior is described as “the bright and morning star.” Like Polaris his teaching and example remain fixed in the heavens. We can get our bearings from them and steer a straight course toward our home port.
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