The Station

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But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station.  Bands will be playing and flags waiving.  Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering —waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

 “When we reach the station that will be it!” we cry.  “When I’m 18.”  “When I buy a new 450L Mercedes Benz!”  “When I put the last kid through college.”  “When I have paid off the mortgage!”  “When I get a promotion!”  “When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"

 Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all.  The true joy of life is the trip.  The station is only a dream.  It constantly outdistances us. 

“Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118.24:  “This is the day in which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad.  It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.  Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

 So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.  Instead climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.  Life must be lived as we go along.  The station will come soon enough.