It was late at night when I nestled into bed and before I could think too much about the day, I heard a train whistle blow.  I love that sound!  It is always alluring to me when I hear that distant long blast in the dark stillness of the night.  But this particular night it seemed to touch a deep unanticipated loneliness within me and held me close, as if I were wrapped up in the warm blanket of a memory.  I think I began to realize for the first time the significance of the train for me.

I was carried back to a time when I was about 8 years old.  We lived in San Angelo, Texas and my grandparents lived in Indiana.  Aunt Dot took my sister and I on a journey to Indiana by train.  It was my first time to venture out without my parents, and to travel in anything other than a car.  It was exciting and daring.  “All aboard!” We climbed on, found our seats and rode all day and all night long.  My nose was pressed to the window, my eyes continually searching the landscape as an ever expanding world passed by.  So much to see and absorb!  I never knew the horizon could be so big! The night lights of approaching towns were as captivating as the daytime scenes of countryside, small villages, and bustling cities.  I don’t remember eating or sleeping.  I only remember searching for anything I could see.

Early the next morning we pulled into St. Louis.  This was a large center for the intersection of trains.  Many of the train cars we were pulling were transferred as other cars were added on.  So we went through a time of moving forward, backing up, jerking again and again, as we heard and felt the cars bumping and being latched or unlatched.  It was like being in a huge mix master, and quite fascinating to experience.  Finally we headed out, anxiously anticipating the crossing of the great Mississippi River.

It was fun to learn how to spell that word, and now we were actually going to travel across by train!  How in the world was that going to happen?  What did happen was something I would never forget.  The train tracks made a bridge and were under the train, but when I looked out the window I could not see them.  It seemed that we were suspended high up in the air, moving across that expanse of water and over all the boats and barges below.  It was both frightening and wondrously miraculous!  In that moment I was struck with a new and important perspective….something was holding me up that I could not see!  I could only trust.  That innate understanding is an important perspective in our journey of faith.  The unseen God holds us up in such a way that we are able to know and believe what we cannot see.  We can’t fully explain it…we just KNOW.

Now on this night, the train whistle carried me into that memory and I was there again, and I knew what is always true….God is holding us up.  Now I have a deeper understanding of why the sound of the train is so special to me.  I pulled the covers more snugly around me, then one last memory….

When we arrived at our destination I could see my Grandma, tall and lean, standing outside the station waving, anxiously waiting to wrap me up in her long arms.  I could feel them already!  Love is present.

nk