"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining — they just shine." —Dwight L. Moody (American Evangelist, 1837-1899)

Of all species on our planet, humans surely take the prize when it comes to compulsions or feelings, such as sentimentality, superstition, romance or just plain quirkiness.

I was reminded of that this week when the Postal Service announced a new set of five stamps slated for release this summer. They feature storied icons that have captivated the hearts and emotions of everyone from romantics to mariner poets for thousands of years — lighthouses.

Admittedly, there is something about lighthouses that makes anyone, be it one that has lived on the water or another that has never been on a boat, wax poetic and conjure images of coziness and security. I get it. We've long heard stories of lighthouse keepers maintaining the flame to keep those at sea safe. And that's really what it has always been about — safe passage.

As romantic as the silent beacons appear, what is often ignored is why a lighthouse is built and manned where it is. It is there to alert ship captains that if they come too close, a reef, hidden shoal, rock outcropping, sunken impediment or point of land will rip the boat to shreds, kill everyone aboard and create environmental carnage. Not the stuff of sweet dreams anymore, eh?

I'm certainly not here to destroy the dream. For as long as I can remember - dating back to when my family first took me to the shore and I saw my first lighthouse — I have been enamored with the lights, as well as the imagined old resident salts who keep them lit.

Evidently, the Postal Service has been equally enchanted because, over the years, they've issued more than two-dozen stamps and postal cards showcasing lighthouses. Based on sales, they know a good thing when they have one. Collectors, postal patrons and lighthouse lovers have bought the stamps in droves. Many were used as postage. Others ended up in collections. Still more found their way into frames for decoration. There continues to just be something about a lighthouse that people can't get enough of.

The five beacons on the new stamps are among the oldest lights in the U.S. Given their storied histories, all are naturally situated on the coastline of New England. Information on the sheet of stamps note that the lighthouses include:

—Portland Head — Maine's oldest lighthouse. The lighthouse tower, constructed in 1791, and the Victorian keepers' house, now the home of a museum, are among the most beautiful and most frequently photographed in the United States.

—Portsmouth Harbor — The first navigational aid in New Hampshire created in 1771, in Portsmouth, the state's only deep-water port. The present lighthouse, a 48-foot tower of cast-iron plates built in 1878, was constructed inside its predecessor, a wooden tower that succumbed to deterioration.

—Point Judith — Originally established in 1810 to guard a particularly dangerous part of the Atlantic coast of Rhode Island, Point Judith's current lighthouse was built in 1857. In 2000, it underwent a renovation using brownstone quarried from the same area as the 1857 tower.

—New London Harbor — Connecticut's oldest and tallest lighthouse. Originally established in 1761, the tower was financed by a lottery held by the Connecticut colonial legislature. The present lighthouse, built in 1801, was one of the earliest American lighthouses with a flashing beacon.

—Boston Harbor — Boston Harbor Light, North America's first true light station, was established in 1716. The lighthouse was the last in the United States to be automated and is the only remaining U.S. lighthouse with a resident keeper employed by the federal government.

The lighthouse stamps are scheduled to be released this July. I'll be sure to include First Day of Issue canceling information for collectors (and lighthouse fanatics) as soon as it is available.

In the meantime, remember the pointed adage: "A lighthouse is a tall building on the seashore in which the government maintains a lamp and the friend of a politician."

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of the five upcoming lighthouse stamps has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.