In 1836, Congress paid $6,549 to have three 15-foot masonry towers built along the shore of Eastham, Massachusetts (Cape Cod Region). Originally known as the Nauset Lights, they quickly gained the nickname “The Three Sisters” because from afar, they looked like women dressed in white dresses with black hats.

For almost fifty five years, the Sisters successfully guided mariners at sea. As years passed, coastal erosion caused these three Lights to end up dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. Moving them was deemed impossible. Therefore, it was decided they should be replaced. Three new and slightly larger wooden lighthouses shaped to resemble the prototypes were raised thirty feet inland from the original ones, which eventually collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean. Advances in marine technology, continuous erosion problems, and the cost of maintaining the three lights prompted the new wooden towers to be moved. In 1911, the center one was moved away from the cliff edge and attached to the 1875 keeper’s house. The other two were decommissioned and later sold at a public auction. In 1920, they were both moved again and converted into the Twin Lights Cottage (a summer cottage and a dance studio) until they were sold to the National Park Service in 1965.

After many years of service, the center tower fell into disrepair. It was replaced with one of the previous “twin lights” that was no longer in use. Then in 1975, the National Park Service also purchased the broken tower with a plan to reunite it with the other two. The three towers eventually met again. They were placed in their original orientation on Cable Road in Eastham. Today, one can visit The Three Sisters and marvel at the remarkable journey that brought and kept the Sisters together.

This story reminds me of the bond of sisterhood.

As an only child, I have always wondered how it would be like to have a brother or a sister. When I married my wife, I gained 4 sisters-in-law and 2 brothers-in-law. During our one year courtship, I occasionally saw the amazing love displayed between my wife and her siblings, especially her sisters. The stories I’ve heard about them growing up together and what I have witnessed up until this day, fill my heart with a sense of kinship that is comforting yet foreign at the same time. It’s the evident love, selflessness, and willingness to cross any barrier in order to be there for each other that truly speaks louder than words.

But this togetherness is not limited to blood relatives. The same can exist among blended families and close friends. Yet, there is another particular sororal relationship which I have come to admire greatly. I am referring to spiritual sisterhood, specifically the one that is shared within the Christian faith.

It wasn’t until my wife and I began to attend and participate in a local church that I started to see how close “sisters” can actually become. In fact, there have been times that I’ve witnessed an even closer bond between them than the one between kin. From what I’ve gathered, there are far more women who can relate to a dysfunctional/hurtful past than those who can’t. This may be one of the reasons why they are able to become so personal with and supportive of each other. However, I am convinced that it is mainly because of the other blood factor; The one that was shed on Calvary’s cross. Plus, the fact that many of them spend a lot of time together in fellowship, whether at church gatherings, small groups, or by regularly contacting each other for prayer and life updates. And, like the Three Sisters Lighthouses, separation (whether physical or emotional) does not hinder the relationship. True love and fate finds a way to bring them back together someday, somewhere, somehow.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James 5:16

It is definitely uplifting and encouraging to see my wife enjoying a sisterhood with other women who won’t allow time, distance, differences of opinion, or any other personal adversity to come between them. Such a relationship is one that is built not only on trust but also on unwavering faith. It’s a close association where empathy, consolation, healing, and spiritual growth occurs because of their non-compromising relationship with Jesus, who in turn gives them His unconditional love to share with each other.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

It’s obvious that I cannot fully and accurately describe true sisterhood, but based on what I have seen, it is a bond that closely resembles the life of Christ on earth. The only other relationship that should be stronger and more intimate is the one between a husband and wife. Yet, it is heartbreaking to know that some marriages never experience it.

Kudos to the Bond of Sisterhood!

Prayer: Thank you, heavenly Father, for the women who have encouraged, guided, and admonished me along the way. I am so blessed to have them in my life and call them sisters. I pray that you give me wisdom and grace so that I may be a blessing to them as well. May your unconditional love be the glue that binds us together and may we continue to find strength in each other’s presence but most importantly, in yours. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

RELATED SCRIPTURES

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

Do not forsake meeting together [for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encourage one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching. – Hebrews 10:25