Thought for the Day 5/12/2023

 Friday Tale ~ The Story of 143 

143 is code for “I love you,” especially used on pagers back in the 1990s and currently used while emailing and texting. 

143 is based on the number of letters in each word of the phrase: I (1), love (4), you (3). 

As the story goes, dating back to the early 1900s from Minot’s Ledge lighthouse off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts. The story begins in 1895, when the lighthouse changed its flash pattern after a recommendation that all lighthouses have numerical flash sequences. The order, one quick flash, four flashes, then three flashes, was apparently chosen at random. 

In 1915, a new assistant lighthouse keeper, Winfield Scott Thompson, came to the Minot’s Ledge lighthouse. His family lived on a neighboring island and could see the flash of the lighthouse at night. According to legend, Mary Thompson, Winfield’s wife told their children that it was the “I Love You” flash, their father’s way of telling them how much he loved them from across the water. 

Each flash corresponded to the number of letters in each word of the phrase: “I Love You.” This tale proved popular, so much so that the Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse is nicknamed the “I Love You” lighthouse. 

I believe that more than any time in history, we need more Kindness and Affection. I believe that more than any time in history, we need to say “I Love You” more often. To say, “I Love You” might be a stretch for some, so maybe 143 might be a nice alternative.
~ Loren D. Lasher 

Now may our God and Father Himself, and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
~ 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13