On the Train

Here I am on the train from Port Elizabeth back home to Johannesburg.   The train down was eight and a half hours late in arriving, causing us to miss a day of our holiday.   The train I am on now is already running an hour late.   We have pulled out of the Kroonstadt station and about 5 minutes later the train just stopped.   No station, no explanation.    I remember from the journey down this sort of thing happened a lot.   People got uptight, phoned friends, yelled at the train manager and swore.    I listen to the sounds from outside our coupe.

“Would you mind if I used your compartment window for a minute?   There is a Red Bishop building a nest and I’d like to get a photo.”  

It is a white lady speaking to a black family and they respond with friendship.   Soon they are chatting.   It seems she is travelling to Jo’burg because her father had a by-pass.

I look out the window and spot the bird concealed among the leaves of the bamboo-type plant growing outside my window.

Jesus said, “Behold the lilies of the field…”   I think He is saying to me, “Look outside your compartment”.   Look outside the present circumstances.   When circumstances interrupt your planned schedule, don’t get irritable or impatient.   Explore the treasure without.”

I tried to get a photo of the Red Bishop but it was very obscured by leaves.   As the wind blew them aside I sometimes caught glimpses of him.   From the other window in the passage I could see our train as it was stopped on a curve with the red signal for all to see.   A little boy begged his mother “Please can I see if the signal has changed green yet?”

A train journey, like life, is not just getting to your destination.   It is the richness of life along the way.