Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse, photo by Allan Wood, NELights.com.

In the summer of 1944, college students Lois Knight and her boyfriend visited a relative in Rhode Island on Narraganset Bay.

Not long after they arrived, the two young people spotted the charming “sparkplug” Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse out in the water. The lighthouse looked close, maybe 600 yards away, so they decided to swim to it. Not bothering to tell anyone at the house what they were doing, they jumped into the water and began swimming.

Perhaps if they’d checked with the adults at the house, they would have been advised against the plan, referring to the tide schedule. But like many young people, they acted on impulse without considering the risks.

Lois said that after swimming a while, she grew tired, so her boyfriend adopted a chin-carry such as lifeguards perform to rescue drowning victims. But with only one free arm, the boyfriend grew tired as well. When Lois glanced at the lighthouse to see if they were making progress, she was disappointed to see they had swum off course and the chances of making it to the lighthouse were slim.

Hog Island Shoals Light, R.I. Photo courtesy Lighthouse Digest

Then she noticed a man standing on the walkway that surrounded the lighthouse and saw a dinghy being lowered by ropes to the water. She watched as the man climbed down a ladder and got into the boat. He proceeded to row toward them and once reaching them, helped them into the small vessel, saving them from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean where they were headed.

The keeper, Edward Duffy, rowed them to the lighthouse where he welcomed them to his cozy home. While they rested, he showed them around, even displaying a quilt he had made himself and offering them some sliced apples he had been cutting when he looked outside and saw them in distress. After that, he rowed them home where they found a worried family waiting.

Lois never forgot the kind keeper, the hero who saved her and her companion. For her it was a life-changing experience, and she lived about 75 more years as a result.

But for Keeper Duffy who served at the lighthouse for thirty years, he was just doing his job, the job of saving people. In today’s world, he’d be called a “first responder.”

The Bible describes these people as those who “shine their lights.” Like the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, they go out of their way to help others. If you know one, tell them “thank you” for doing their important job.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

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