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Saturday, March 1, 2014

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Surviving

Your ticket is ready.  You are excited. It's a package deal designed specifically for you.

Mountains, valleys and rivers that carved the canyons fly past while you eat good food and enjoy the company of fellow travellers.

You smile and wave at waiting passengers waiting on the platforms. You tag yourself on Facebook.  You are the shoes! And, the sox!

It's a trick. 

You are the most satisfied soul you know. You hardly finish oozing glee when the conductor advises you that the next station is one of your stops. 

It turns out to be some out of ordinary city. Challenge is the only game in town.  There's a ton of stuff to do. You make a lot of new friends. 

"When are you leaving?" Someone askes.

You say, later. Longer stops are allowed.

You need to get a job to pay for the room. Extended stays are not included in your package.  You get a job in the hotel where you have your room.

You are exhausted. Too much fun and work! You decide it's time to get back on the train.  Thing is, although it comes by every day, it doesn't always stop.

The ticket office guy says you have to be on the platform. If it stops, you get on.

"And," he says pointing a long finger, "it doesn't hover about. If you are not ready ...

"This is ... insanity!" You say.

"It is," he says.

You write letters of protest informing the authorities that you do have a ticket and this is just not cricket. The envelopes come back "Return to Sender". You can't get anyone on the phone. The emails bounce. You can't randomly wait at the station. You'll lose your job.  You'd starve. You'd be homeless.
 
It's a trick

You can see the train going by from your office.  You can feel the vibrations as it thunders past. You feel funny inside, but ...  You have everything you need.  Why bother with the train? Here's as good as anywhere else.  You are fine until you hear it stop. Then you hear the whistle blow and the conductor shout, "All aboard."  Something inside flips over. Sometimes you cry.

The train stops once a week. Never before 6.00 a.m. since you've been watching.

You book a week's leave.  You pack just about everything because you don't plan to come back.

Passengers in passing trains wave. Your train does not stop once.  You go back to your room and job. 

You realise you can't play it safe.  You resign. You check out of the room.  You give away your clutter and head for the station with an overnight bag.

You sit down.  You have books.  You pick one.  You have ten.  You have time.  You don't care how long it takes. 

You hear a train. The tracks quiver.  The breaks squeal. It can't be your train.  It's not five o'clock yet.  You arrived early to get the spot next to the pillar, something to lean against. Might as well be comfortable.

The train stops. The doors open.  You are reading.  People scramble in. You feel them. You smell them. You hear them. The conductor shouts, "All aboard!"  You don't move.  You only look up when he shouts a second time.  "All Aboard!" You notice the destination board. 

It's your train.

You get up, grab the bag, and start for the door.  It's a step away.

The doors close. Whoosh. It's gone.

"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!" You shout.

You run to the ticket office and yell at the guy.

He peers over his spectacles at you.

"I told you.  You have to be ready," he responds quietly.

"SO I HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER WEEK?" you shout back. "THIS IS INSANITY!"

"It is, indeed," the ticket guy says.  "Be ready next time," he adds.

"NEXT TIME?  Really?"

It's a trick.

You've lost the pillar spot.  Another train whooshes by. Passengers wave.  You wish you had a brick to hurl at them.

You're wondering if you should go back home.  The bloody thing won't be back today anyway ...

You remember. You have no room.  And ... it never was home.

Another train's on it's way.  It can't be yours.  Yours has already come and gone. It stops.  You read the destination board.  It's your train.  How can it be?  It just left. You shake your head. Perhaps you're seeing things. 

The conductor shouts, "All aboard!"

A few stranglers get on the train.  They forgot to change the destination board. That's it.  The board's wrong.

"All aboard!" The conductor shouts.

You're hungry, need to pee and wash. You get on the train. The doors close. 

You sit down.

"What train is this?" You ask an old man.
He looks at your ticket.
"This is your train," he says.
"My train left about fifteen minutes ago.  It only stops once a day," you say.
"You weren't ready," the old man says.
"Well, I was, but ..."
"You were not ready."
"Either way, ready or not, I'm on the wrong train," you say.
"Your ticket says you're on the right train," the old man says.
"How can it be?"
"When you are ready, it comes," the old man says.
"Hey?"

"How far away is this place then?" You ask.
"It's not a place."
"And," not listening, you go on. "How come the train stopped twice today?"
"It's not a train.," the old man said.

You sit back. The old man has lost it.

You close your eyes.

You wonder what day it is.

"It's a new day!"  A game show host yells.

You open your eyes.
You're on the couch.
The television is on.

"Are you ready?"  Jimmy York shouts.

A muffle comes back from the studio audience.

"ARE YOU READY?" he shouts again.

You sit up. 
That's the ticket office guy!

"What is this?" Jimmy asks his first contestant holding up a picture.
"It's not a train," the contestant says.

You can't believe your eyes. 
That's the old man!

The score board clocks up his points.

"What's this?" Jimmy presents a new picture.

"It's not a place," another contestant says.

The score board clocks up his points.
That's the conductor...

"We'll be back after the commercial break," Jimmy says.

You close your eyes. Hate adverts. 
Then you hear it.  The whistle.
You open your eyes. The advert has a train ...

It whooshes past a platform. 
You can't believe it. 
That's you on the platform.
Camera zooms in on one of the passengers.
You can't believe it.
It's you.


 

Moving On

If the individual isn't powerful why the cameras and the listening? 
If the individual is powerful why is he acting like a lemming or a frog in slow boiling pot?

Global Front

"We do not have instructions to negotiate." An armed person without insignia.

A Facebook posting reports that Christians have signed a treaty of submission giving up the right to publically practice as Christians rather than "face the sword" in Syria.  [I found another article by a different writer on line although  the wording is much the same ... Interesting though that one has Atlas Shrugged roots and the other is a Christian paper. In another article the writer says these persecutions are not imaginary.]

Just a thought

Everything that happens to everyone matters to everyone.

Love and Light