“there shall be no more death…”
Revelation 21:4
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I drove to the train station today, and there were two important lessons in it for me. But I need to share them with you in different posts, because one story is light-hearted and self-deprecating and the other one… isn’t.
My mom and my aunt had themselves an adventure this week. They took the train to San Diego, and spent a couple of days shopping and sightseeing. They came home today, and I drove to the station to pick mom up. But right before I arrived, she called and said the train was delayed. She didn’t know why, and I told her I would just wait there until the train came.
I sat on a bench in the station, enjoying the day ~ the sights and sounds of a beautiful area of Southern California… until I overheard some conversation near me, that the train had struck something, and would be delayed as much as three hours. I called my husband and asked him to go online and see what he could find out, but before he could, my mom called back and confirmed that the train had hit a pedestrian. She said she didn’t know what to expect, and that I should drive home and wait to hear from her.
They ended up sitting on the tracks for nearly three hours; presumably there’s a lot involved after an accident like that. And as I walked away from the station, a train arrived ~ having come from the other direction ~ and I heard the announcement that “due to activity on the track” that train would not be departing any time soon.
There were a lot of people today, whose lives were put on hold for several hours, because someone died. How many trains were held at their stations? How many people were late to their destinations, and how much did that matter to them? I mean, generally speaking, you don’t take the train if you’re in a big hurry, but still, if you’re expected at such-and-such a time, people make plans accordingly.
But somehow it seemed appropriate. I mean, none of those people on the trains knew the man that died. None of the people waiting at stations up and down the coast knew him. But all of us stopped what we were doing ~ some stopped in their tracks, literally ~ because of his death.
And I know it’s impossible for us to fathom how often someone dies on this planet. We couldn’t handle it, even if we knew. But God knows. Our God who knows when a sparrow falls, and the number of hairs on my head and your head, also knows every time one of His children dies. Whether or not that person recognizes Him as Savior, He cares. Jesus wept when Lazarus died.
Today was a terrible day for someone. And God not only knows that, He feels it too. He is Emmanuel.
Light Expectations 