- Published on
The Station
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a 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 car!”
“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, verse 24: “This is the day 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.
by Robert J. Hastings
Robert Jean Hastings was born on 17 May 1924 in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois, United States of America. He was ordained a Baptist minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1943. He married Bessie Ruth Emling on 1 April 1945 and together the couple had 3 children. He became a minister, a writer, an editor, and a professional speaker. He is known for “A Nickel’s Worth of Skim Milk: A Boy’s View of the Great Depression” (1972) and “A Penny’s Worth of Minced Ham: Another Look at the Great Depression” (1986). Robert Jean Hastings passed on at 72 years of age on 17 January 1997 in Springfield, Illinois, United States of America. His online memorial can be visited by clicking on Robert Jean Hastings.
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon of corn and wheat, of flat lands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a 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 car!”
“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, verse 24: “This is the day 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.
by Robert J. Hastings
Robert Jean Hastings was born on 17 May 1924 in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois, United States of America. He was ordained a Baptist minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1943. He married Bessie Ruth Emling on 1 April 1945 and together the couple had 3 children. He became a minister, a writer, an editor, and a professional speaker. He is known for “A Nickel’s Worth of Skim Milk: A Boy’s View of the Great Depression” (1972) and “A Penny’s Worth of Minced Ham: Another Look at the Great Depression” (1986). Robert Jean Hastings passed on at 72 years of age on 17 January 1997 in Springfield, Illinois, United States of America. His online memorial can be visited by clicking on Robert Jean Hastings.
I found the Station. The strip of paper was brown with age but still neatly folded in the "S" section of my dictionary. I was so thrilled to have found this lovely poem and sat down to read it twice over.
In a few months I will turn 80. Reading "The Station" again made more sense to me now than it did when I first came across it years back.