All Aboard

On my run this morning, I thought a lot about some words that an old friend recently shared with me. Words in a poem by Robert Hastings, called The Station. It goes as followed...(sorry it is long, but it's worth it I promise!)

"Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering - waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry.
"when I'm 18"
"when I buy a new 450sl Mercedes-Benz!"
"when I put the last kid through college"
"when I have paid off the mortgage!"
"when I get a promotion."
"when I reach the age of retirement,I shall live happily ever after!" 

Sooner or later we realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough."


After reading this to myself a few times, it became so clear to me the way that I have lived my life the past 20 years. I watch it go by as I reach toward my own goals. Hastings describes that the way we all look at this beautiful life we have been given in awe and reverence is short lived. What takes over with greater importance in our minds is the destination. People today have the skewed belief of, "When I do _______, I will be so happy and my life will be perfect." So what happens if your blank is to turn 21? Or to win an Olympic medal? Or to retire at age 50? What happens in all that time you have before that? Do you miss out of life? Riding your train straight though, taking no stops, but just blankly staring out the window the entire way? God gave you this amazing gift of life, that was intended to amaze you everyday as you took on the trials and tribulations and thrived in the beauty of the good things. So why do we constantly look at a goal that we set ourselves as the only thing separating ourselves from a life of happiness? Why have we convinced ourselves that material things, the golden age, a shiny trophy, or a big win are what make our lives perfect by design? We think we will be happy once we reach our goal weight. But in the process, we forgot to indulge in the richness of ice cream. We think that once we win the big game at the end of the season we will be happy. But we forgot to admire the beauty of the games in between. When we sit in our own little train car all day, we don't get to feel the coolness of wind as it blows chilly bumps across our skin. We don't get to soak in the warmth of the sun as it beams down across the tops of of heads. We miss out on life. It's almost like God has planned a big party that we are all invited to, booked a giant concert hall filled with music, dancing, and food, and opened the door to all of us with outstretch arms, but we don't show up. None of us show up. We are too busy trying to get to our own station. What we don't realize is that God in Heaven is our station. We are all just along for a ride.


So stop passing life by. Stop delaying happiness. Get off at every stop. Live everyday as if it were your last. God's big concert hall is the final destination. Life is the beautiful road to get there. If you feel like you have gone far off the track and missed out on life too much, don't worry, God forgives you. Start today, He won't mind if you are fashionably late. :)