What's really important ...

Today in the middle of the day I got stuck behind a two mile long freight train ... I walked up Main St and on the way back a freight train pulled into town. According to one of the Railroaders there was a loose hose and they were looking for it ... I spent 35 minutes sitting on the side of the crossing waiting for the train to pull out of town ...

It was warm and sunny, and from where I was sitting you could see the Buffalo herd and watch the river (running high) flowing by ... It was a nice break in the middle of the day ...

Then the train started moving ... Do you know how long it takes a two mile long train to pass you when you are standing waiting??

A long time.

But what really struck me was the thought - "I wonder what all the containers on the train are carrying???"

Were the clothes or toys?? Where they needed essentials or frivolous consumer items that we don't need anyway??

I sat watching car after car after car pass by me ... on each care (save a couple) there were shipping container after shipping container filled with stuff ... I couldn't help but watch and wonder if we really needed any of it ... My other focus this week is spending time in vigil with two of the saints of our faith community. I've been holding hands in prayer as one of the two makes the transition from life through death to life everlasting ... As I sat in the sunshine, enjoying a massive delay in my day I wondered what is really important in life??

Is it the massive amounts of stuff we ship back and forth on trains and trucks?? Or is it the quiet presence of love shared and celebrated in places like the hush of a hospital room where we trust in God's presence and strength??

I thought this afternoon and I believe it even more so tonight that the important stuff in life is not that which can be loaded on a train and shipped across country ... The important stuff is what is passed from life to life when we hold hands, speak words of love and build relationships ... The important stuff of life begins and ends with people and relationships ...

It's funny what some time in the warm spring sunshine can do ... it helps you appreciate what's important ... give me a warm sunny day beside the quiet murmur of a river ... or the profound hush of a hospital room where every moment of life becomes a gift to be celebrated and appreciated ...

dayenu,