Month: October 2012

Without a doubt Galesburg, Illinois is a railroad town. Over 160 trains a day go through downtown. Planning a trip across town requires calculating waiting for the inevitable train, or two, or three. All through the day and night the sounds of train horns can be heard as engines pass the innumerable rail crossings in our city. I have learned engineers have a personality to the way they blow their horns. Some prefer the loud sudden blast. Others choose to let the sound gradually build to a crescendo. Still others prefer to have fun with successions of short blasts. I sometimes wonder if they are trying to play a song.

If you were to come to our town and travel north on Prairie Street, just after you cross a set of tracks, on the corner of North Street you might see a sign which reads, “BNSF Blow that Horn Up Your Caboose.” I laughed the first time I saw the sign and thought whoever sold them their house must deserve the Real Estate Agent of the Century Award. To be able to sell a house in Galesburg without the person noticing they were right next to a railroad tracks or without hearing a train whistle blow takes real talent.

As other days came and I drove by the sign, I began to feel sorry for the person who put the sign up. There could hardly be anything more futile to complain about in Galesburg than the sound of a train horn. Why live one’s life defined by bitterness toward the futile? Galesburg is a great city. There is much beauty to be found. Why allow one thing to destroy everything?

On more journeys across the tracks, I began to think about myself. How many times have I expended energy complaining about things that are just as futile? How many times do I allow myself to get caught up in debates of no value? How often do I allow bitterness to settle into my soul?

The Bible has much to say on the topic. The Psalmist says of the people “. . . they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord” (Psalm 106:24-25). How often do we miss the pleasant land, despising where God has placed us today? Did you catch that their grumbling leads to disobedience?

Paul, in Philippians, encourages the people with these words, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life . . .” (Philippians 2:14-15, emphasis mine).

It seems to me, too often we Christians are more like the house sitting beside the tracks, spending our time complaining about the trains rather than being lights of thankfulness in all circumstances, holding out the word of life.

Blessings,
Stephen