Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are travelling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars of 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 row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, mountains and rolling hillsides of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there so many woderful 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″, “Why I buy a new 450 SL 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 realise 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 a dream. It consistently out distances us. “Relish the moment” is a good motto, especially coupled with Psam 118:24 “This is the day which the Lord has 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 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 icecream, 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.

Robert J.Hastings