The Train

"All Aboard!"
The conductor cries out.

Standing before you is the most magnificent Train ever!

Steam billows out from under the engine...the bell clangs...inviting you to climb on board.

There's a crowd of people surrounding you. The crowd rushes toward the Train...you're pushed inside, and you quickly sit down in a nearby seat. You look at others seated around you. Some are friendly and smile back at you, while others just look away.

The Train lunges forward, and as the Conductor asks for your ticket...you wonder, "Where is this Train going, what's up ahead?"

Life...what's it all about?

A person once told me that life is like a Train, and that we are all boxcars on the Train, and carry precious cargo. This Train of life makes many stops along the way. We have all experienced stops that made us happy, as well as the stops which caused us pain and sorrow.

The Train has stopped a few times in my life at places where I just didn't want to get off. But these stops, in spite of the pain, gave me new outlooks on life, which I couldn't have gained otherwise. Life's greatest lessons can be learned from these most difficult times. We can choose to learn the lessons they have to offer, or we can become trapped by our own fears, unable to get back on the Train and move forward.

One of the my stops on the Train was to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. No other stop has had a greater effect upon my life than this one. When I made this stop, Jesus got onto the Train, sat down in the seat beside me, and each time I make a stop He gets off the Train, and walks beside me.

Night Train
by John Kent

The whistle of the train
has a beckoning sound

when it comes

in the deeper dark,
as the dew clings
to the wet leaves
and the houses sleep
in a soundless night.
From a distance,
the rumble of the train
cannot be discerned,
just the whistle is heard,
calling through the night.
The town is small,
hardly noticed by the train
as it passes swiftly
with its sleeping cargo
to places unknown;
its leading light
picking up the station,
running on by
with barely a glance.
I stir, gaze out the window
at the unseen track,
left with my dreams
as the whistle calls back.

Choose your stops wisely, and learn from the ones that you have no choice over...they have much to teach you.

Use the cargo you carry wisely, it can enrich your own and other's lives.

And most importantly...

"Enjoy the ride!"

"All aboard!"

marcy