Let me tell you a story—a true one, though I’ve changed the name.
Peter was a regular at Lighthouse.
Raised in care, he was a bright guy, but his life was marked by struggles with drugs. In our capitalist, consumer-driven world, Peter was seen as a loser—not just in the lottery of life, but in terms of opportunity and achievement as well.
In a society that values people by their economic worth, Peter had little sense of his own gifts or identity, and his self-esteem was low.
In his late twenties, Peter started coming to Lighthouse. He was drawn in one winter by the warmth, but he stayed because of the magnetic pull of love that was both present and persistent.
Through Lighthouse, Peter came to know Jesus, discovering an empowering presence in which he finally understood that he was loved.
He often carried a Bible with him, listened well, and interacted in lighthouse group sessions with a cheeky grin and contagious enthusiasm.
One passage in particular struck him deeply: the truth that all people are made in God’s image. This resonated with Peter, and he’d often tell the team, “The more you get to know me, the more you get to know something about God.” The team would laugh, but Peter meant it. He saw himself as an image-bearer, a reflection of the divine—like a mirror, perhaps cracked, perhaps broken, but still reflecting God’s image.
After he was baptized, Peter held his head high, knowing he was the son his Heavenly Father had always wanted.
One day, about 7 or 8 years ago, after a Bible study at Lighthouse, Peter headed into town and bought a joint. He sometimes did this to self-medicate, to slow himself down. But after smoking it in an alley beside Morrisons, he collapsed, hitting his head against the floor.
The rumor—never confirmed but widely believed, even by hospital staff—was that the joint had been laced with something more dangerous.
Over the next 48 hours, the Lighthouse pastors gathered around his bedside, singing hymns and praying as the ICU nurse looked on, the steady hum of machines in the background.
Peter breathed his last, and as he did, one of the Pastors spoke in Hebrew, saying:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam, she'asani b'tzalmo.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who made Peter in His image.
The son was now with the Father; the one who was once abandoned was finally home. Yes, he died too soon, but the Lighthouse team was grateful. By knowing Peter, they had come to know a little more about what God is like.
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