The Lighthouse Keeper Who Came Back from the Dead

Race Rock Lighthouse, NY,
Photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

By Marilyn Turk

Off the eastern end of Long Island Sound, you’ll find Fishers, Little Gull, Great Gull, and Plum–a string of islands. Many ships pass between the islands, but the deepest gap, called “The Race,” is just off the end of Fisher Island near a reef called Race Rock. The dangerous current that flows through the gap has been the doom of many vessels, especially before 1871, when the lighthouse built on the reef became active.

A stag station (men only), the lighthouse housed one keeper and two assistant keepers. The families of the married keepers lived on the mainland, and were visited when a keeper had leave to go home. Located eight miles off the coast from New Haven, Connecticut, going to and from the lighthouse was sometimes difficult for the keepers, depending on the tide. Waves can run in two directions where the water at the mouth of the Race meets the water of Fisher’s Island Sound. In bad weather, these waves can be quite large.

In April 1892, the new head keeper at Race Rock, twenty-four-year-old Christopher Culver, ran into those huge waves. After a brief shore leave to visit his family in New London, Culver set out to return to the lighthouse in a twelve-foot rowboat with a sail. Captain R.M. Jerome, a retired sea captain, watched Culver as he made his way out to the lighthouse. When Capt. Jerome saw Culver’s sail go down in the rough seas, he reported that the boat had capsized.

The ensuing search showed no trace of the keeper, and the newspaper reported his drowning.

In reality, Keeper Culver had abandoned his attempt to reach the lighthouse, lowered his sail, and rowed instead to Great Hay Harbor on Fishers Island where he found food and shelter at Mr. Oakley’s farm. Two days later, the keeper arrived back in New London aboard a steamship, and was reunited with his relieved and jubilant family.

At his sixty-ninth wedding anniversary, Culver recalled his premature death notice published sixty-four years before, thankful for the life he’d had since his “death.”

Keeper Culver didn't really die, he was just misplaced. 

At Easter, we celebrate the real resurrection of Jesus Christ, who really did die and really did come back from the dead, defeating death and sin simultaneously. We therefore have even more reason to be thankful for the life Christ has given us now and forever. 

Marilyn Turk

Historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance

 Marilyn Turk’s roots are in the coastal South. Calling herself a “literary archaeologist,” she loves to discover stories hidden in history. She is the author of two World War II novels, and the Coastal Lights Legacy series set in 1800s Florida—Rebel Light, Revealing Light, Redeeming Light, and Rekindled Light—featuring lighthouse settings. Marilyn’s novella, The Wrong Survivor, is in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection. She also writes for the Daily Guideposts Devotions book.

She lives in Florida, with her husband, 9-year-old grandson, and a 17-year-old cat. When not writing, Marilyn can be found playing tennis, gardening, walking, fishing, or kayaking. She and her husband have visited over 100 lighthouses so far, but the RV is ready to travel to go see more.

Website: @http://pathwayheart.com

Email: marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com

Gethsemane: Garden of Suffering

I hope you all had a blessed and joyful Resurrection Day. In light of the Easter season, I thought I'd share about our visit to the Garden of Gethsemane outside of Jerusalem. This stop was extra special to me, and I hope you will enjoy this virtual visit.

The Garden of Gethsemane

The garden is situated to the east of the city, with a great view of the Temple Mount. It is mentioned several times in the Scriptures as one of Jesus' favorite retreats, and you can see why. It must have been gorgeous in its prime.

The garden was probably composed of Olive trees, and there are still several thousand-year-old trees remaining. The story behind these trees are amazing.

The Trees

Radiocarbon dating places these trees as around 2300 years old. The curious thing about this when Titus came to destroy Jerusalem in 70 A.D., he had ordered all of the trees in the area to be cut down and used for their siege equipment. So it would seem that either these eight trees escaped that destruction, or they have reemerged from the roots of those cut down. Oh, the stories that these trees could tell! They could probably tell us of our Lord's tears as he wept in the garden, they may have witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple, the crusades, the building of the Muslim Dome of the Rock temple. 

Today, the fruit from these eight trees are harvested each year. The oil from the olives goes to light the sanctuary lamps in the Catholic Gethsemane church, and the seeds are used to make rosary beads.

The Grotto

A short distance from these eight trees, beside the Catholic Tomb of Mary, is a natural grotto. There is a stone passageway that leads to a small area of about 624 square feet. This cave is believed to be the place that Jesus prayed with his disciples, met Nicodemus, and where Judas brought the guards on the night he betrayed Jesus.

Grotto Entrance

Inside this cave, there had been an olive press. On one wall, there is a hole that would have been the perfect height for the main beam of an olive press.

In John 18:1-2, the apostle mentions going into the garden.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.
And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.

Notice that Judas "knew the place for Jesus resorted there often." This was something I had not considered prior to my visit to the Grotto. I always imagined Jesus was just in a big garden. But looking closely at the Scripture, it seems there should be a landmark or a more comfortable place for them to occupy while in the garden. A certain "place" that Judas would have known where the disciples were sleeping (comfortably, it would seem) while Jesus went out a little space (possibly among the ancient trees that remain) to pray. This cave may be that very place.

What an experience it was to visit this cave and hold a small service. 

Service inside the Grotto of Gethsemane

How did you imagine the garden of Gethsemane to be?

The Garden Tomb with #giveaway!

Blogger: Amber Schamel

With the new movie Risen coming out, and Easter drawing near, I thought I would take ya'll on a trip with me to visit the Garden Tomb in Israel.

The Garden Tomb

Out of all the sites that we visited during our trip to the Holy Land, this one tops them all. There are actually two places near Jerusalem that claim to be the place that Jesus was buried. There is the Catholic Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and then there is the Garden Tomb which was claimed by Protestants, which is where our tour took us. I found the facts about the Garden Tomb to be very interesting, and thought you might too.

The Garden Tomb is a beautiful place that simply takes your breath away. As you enter, you are met by plants, flowers and stone landscaping that transports you to the Biblical era. The site is very unique, and after hearing the guide's explanation, I too was led to believe that this might very well be the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, which Jesus borrowed.

The garden was first discovered by a General Gordan in the late 1800's. He began to question whether the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the true location of Jesus' tomb, because that site lay within the city walls, and the Scriptures describe the tomb as having been outside the walls.

The hill next to the Garden Tomb site is believed to be the most northern point of Mount Moriah. It was first a rock quarry, but afterwards became a place of execution, specifically for stoning. It would have been near here that Stephen would have been martyred. For this reason, it is considered that this may be the hill Golgotha. The word, Golgotha means "place of the skull". This hill looked very much like a skull, until they built at the foot of the hill around the 1960's.

Golgatha Hill - Can you see the skull?

According to the gospel of Luke, the tomb was in a garden that was near to the place of crucifixion. This is another reason that the Garden Tomb is a plausible candidate for the site of Christ's burial. The tomb is quite close to the Golgatha hill, and was a garden or vineyard around the time of Jesus. The size of the cistern found on the site also indicates that the owner of the garden had to have been a wealthy man, as Joseph of Arimathea was.

There are three unique things about the Garden Tomb, that are spoken of in the Scriptures.

Inside the Tomb, where Jesus would have laid

First, it was a NEW tomb. We know the tomb in the Garden is a new tomb, because of the rough and unfinished in areas. (Matt 27:60, Luke 23:53, John 19:41)


Second, this tomb was hewn out of stone, (also Matt,. 27:60) rather than a natural cave as many in the area were.

But probably the most astounding element for me, was the third unique thing about this tomb. The gospel of Mark makes some detailed observations.

And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. Mark 16:5

It is interesting that he notes "Sitting on the right side," because the majority of Jewish tombs in those days had the burial chamber straight ahead, but the Garden Tomb has its burial chamber to the right of the weeping chamber.

Interesting, huh?


So is this really the place where Christ was buried and resurrected? I don't know. No one does. But that's not what is important. What is important, is that HE IS NO LONGER THERE. He is risen, as He said.

In my book The Master's Calling, Malon visits the Garden Tomb during the short period that Christ's body is still there. In celebration of Easter, I'm offering an ebook giveaway so that you can experience it along with Malon! 

Leave a comment on the post to get your name in the drawing.

Wishing each of you a very joyous Resurrection day!

If you'd like to learn more about the Garden Tomb, you can view a video of the tour and read all about the site at www.gardentomb.com.