The Station - By Robert J. Hastings

The other day my grandma shared me this wonderful piece of writing. It was a snip-it from a newspaper she estimated to be from the 1980s. Yet shes kept it all this time as she read it often. This piece of writing is so beautiful yet so discrete that I had to share it.

Cheers.

The Station

By Robert J. Hastings

Tucked away in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves on a long journey that spans an entire continent.  We're traveling by train, and from the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, or smoke pouring from power plants, of row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.

 

But uppermost in our minds is our final destination – for at a certain hour and on a given day, our train will finally pull into the station with bells ringing, flags waving and bands playing.  And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true.  So restlessly we pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

 

“Yes, when we reach the station, that will be it!” we promise ourselves.  “When we're 18...when we win that promotion...put the last kid through college...buy that Mercedes-Benz...pay off that mortgage...have a nest egg for retirement.”  From that day on, we will all live happily ever after.

 

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no station in this life, no one earthly place to arrive at once and for all:  the journey is the joy.

 

The station is an illusion – it constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream.  Yesterday's a fading sunset: tomorrow's a faint sunrise.  Only today is there light enough to love and live. Yesterday belongs to history: tomorrow belongs to God.  So gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away.  It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad but rather the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.

 

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.  Instead, swim more rivers, climb more mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars.  Laugh more and cry less.  Go barefoot more often.  Eat more ice cream.  Ride more merry-go-rounds.  Watch more sunsets.  Life must be lived as we go along.

 

“Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”