My wife and I visited York, Maine, over Mother’s Day weekend. This year the holiday and our youngest son’s birthday coincided as it did in 1986 at his birth. The weekend didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but we cherish the time we’ve had. Here are some of my musings.
When we boarded our flight for Boston a week ago, the president of the Destin-South Walton Toastmasters Club sat in an emergency exit row. We greeted each other. I met Enzo when I rejoined the club in January to continue work on my Distinguished Toastmaster’s educational program. Our flight to Boston and drive to Maine in a rental car went smoothly.
Mother’s Day morning we worshiped at the Cape Neddick Baptist Church. The pastor’s sermon “Wake Up” was based on Ephesians 5:1-21. I was spiritually nurtured by the message. The pastor interspersed stories of his mother that connected the Bible passage to the holiday.
The end of June will mark the twentieth anniversary of my resignation from the church and our move to Arlington, Texas. The church has evolved, and so have I. One of the members is a train enthusiast and we conversed about his model trains and the origin of the United States standard train track width. My friend educated me by tracing the track width back to the Roman chariot’s spread between the two wheels. The distance is room for two horses’ rear ends. I pray that my life can be traced back to Jesus Christ’s character and deeds.
My wife and I visited a thrift store in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that we have shopped at several times before. After entering the store, I immediately turned left to take a peek at the jewelry counter. Low and below, there was a belt buckle commemorating the New York Central Railroad 5417 locomotive. The buckle’s appearance looked pristine. I googled the buckle and verified its maker. I also learned more about the locomotive. The 5417 went into service in 1937 and retired in 1954. The wheel configuration was 4-6-4. This means there were two sets of small front wheels, three sets of large middle wheels, and two more sets of small wheels.
The New York Central Railroad holds sentimental value to me because my grandfather Stone worked on the line as a United States Postal Service employee. He sorted the mail. His work shifts required my father and his siblings to maintain silence during the day so their father could sleep. My grandfather retired from the postal service in 1956, two years after the 5417 locomotive was retired. He would have been familiar with the power and pull of that locomotive. My grandfather, earlier in his work life, served with the Boston and Maine Railroad.
Returning to Maine has felt like returning home to me since we lived there twenty-six years. Our sons were born here and they are rightly called Mainiacs. This time, however, returning felt different. The twenty years that have flowed over the dam of life since I resigned mean I am known only by a few people. I told my wife, “I feel like an alien and stranger.” Yes, this comment contained sadness, but I also had in mind an ancient text found in the apostle Peter’s letter, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11, NASB95)
This text starts on an uplifting note, ‘Beloved.’ This noun is plural because it’s addressed to a large number of friends. Beloved is derived from the Greek word ‘agape,’ the word for love, and more specifically, God’s love. Remembering God’s love when I feel like an alien and stranger tempers any sadness I feel. Sadness can provoke selfish attitudes and behaviors if we don’t take Peter’s directive to heart. God still loves us through Jesus Christ when we think of ourselves as aliens and strangers.
Unchecked sadness sends us spiraling into depression or diverts our allegiance to Christ into unbridled self-centered behavior. The spiraling or diversion then becomes a catalyst for igniting internal battles against ourselves and our Creator and Savior. Peter wants us to resist the spiraling or diversion away from Jesus Christ. How do we do that?
We acknowledge the unpleasant emotions we feel. They are real. We remember the treasure we possess in being God’s beloved ones. Christ loved us so much that he died for us. Our relationship to God never changes if we are aliens and strangers or feel like we are such. We also reaffirm our allegiance to our Lord Jesus in the happy and unpleasant times. Finally, we feed our hearts and minds with the Bible’s literature such as Peter’s letter. The Bible contains wisdom to live in the world that doesn’t always feel like our own.
We will return to Maine, Lord willing, in the fall to see our sons and grandchildren again. Football season will be in full force for the grandsons. By the way, I recommend you schedule a visit to Maine. Then you can muse about it to family and friends.