Sunday, August 06, 2006

Of sparrows and squirrels

Lately, whenever I work the closing shift or a double on the Fiesta Texas Railroad, I've ended up at the German depot during the time the train is down for the park's parade. (This parade is a new feature, at 4 PM daily, celebrating 45 years since the first Six Flags park opened its gates in Arlington, Texas.) The train spends the "down time" at the other depot, the Western one, so all the rest of the crew is over there.

But I'm not lonely! If nothing else, while I tidy up the depot I can enjoy the broadcast of recorded German music. It's instrumental waltz, march or oom-pah, with one vocal. This latter is Ein Prosit der Gemutlichkeit, a drinking toasting song. Also, we have a family of sparrows and also one grey squirrel who like to visit the vacant (except for me) depot. If I've finished my tidying up I will rest and just enjoy watching the birds or the furry friend move around the station paving. The sparrows hop and the squirrel scampers, as they seek out any left-over crumbs. There are always a few crumbs I managed to overlook during the clean-up!

And I'm most certainly NOT ALONE! God is there, too! In Matthew 28:20, among other verses in the four Gospels, Jesus Himself promised that He is "with you alsways, to the end". And I firmly believe that Jesus was not promising this to those present, but to all of His disciples everywhere then AND now! David, in the Shepherd's Psalm (Ps. 23), affirms of and to the shepherding God, that "You are with me". In the Emmaus order of worship there is an affirmation of faith. It begins "We are not alone" and it ends "We are not alone; God is with us; thanks be to God!" And sometimes as I watch the furry friend or the feathered familythere at the depot, the Creator and I carry on a conversation without audible words, about the sheer joy of His creation -- even in these small inhabitants of that creation!

NOTE: The two depots on the Fiesta Texas RR have various names. The names on the buildings themselves are "Der Pilger Bahnhof" and "Whistle Stop 39". The train crew personnel when answering the phone at either depot generally will say, "Spassburg" or "Crackaxle" (or "Crack" for short). The terms "German" and "Western" I picked up, I think, from printed employee material. BTW, the depot name in Spassburg means "The Pilgrim Depot" in Deutsch.

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