| | I just finished reading the STM thesis of a classmate of mine, on Luther's preaching of the Christian life. It's a wonderful work, hopefully slated for publication as part of the Lutheran Voices book series. And with its themes of a life lived by faith alone and the apocalyptic battle made manifest in the everyday, it seemed particularly poignant this morning, as I was in a bit of a snit. Already tired and grouchy for no good reason, I scolded my son for his kicking and pinching while we got him dressed this morning -- and he hates when I raise my voice to him. My boy howled and shrieked as if I'd pulled off one of his limbs. So really, an inauspicious start to the day.
Meetings were scheduled for 8:00, 10:00, and 11:00 a.m. At the eight o'clock Community Development meeting, it came up that an old school steam engine would be chugging through New York Mills this morning on its way to some train museum in Michigan. The mayor, postmaster, and local business owners were abuzz. When the meeting ended at nine, I noticed a bunch of the community (including some retired preachers and our local reporter) already gathering by the tracks. After stopping by the office for some much-needed prayer and scheduling, curiosity got the better of me and I scooted the two blocks back down to the tracks to meet people. Consider it an evangelism opportunity, I thought. 
Ends up that there was a whole relay of train enthusiasts and cops calling one another with updates on the big engine. It had passed through Hawley at 9:00 a.m., and rumor had it that the thing's top speed was only 50 m.p.h. At that rate, it could easily be eleven o'clock by the time it got here. Well, so be it. There's work to do, after all. After bidding my farewells to the newfound group of local men gathered by the tracks, I asked the one gentleman (whose ex-son-in-law is one of our two policemen) to let me know when the train got through Perham, 11 miles west of us. He took my number and promised that he would. Nice fellow. 
Barely had I gotten back in the office when my phone rang. The cops had said that the engine just passed through Perham! I quickly called to reschedule my 10:00 a.m. telephone meeting with our web developer -- a more than gracious fellow who had no problem with a later meeting this afternoon -- and I again scampered down Main Street to the tracks, where even more people had accumulated, digital cameras at the ready.
Now, I have a rather nice little camera, but of course it had been left at home. I'd only heard about this event an hour before, after all. But hark! On the horizon! A pale light and puff of smoke against the cloudy sky! The wail of a train horn like I'd never heard outside of Westerns! (And in Mills, believe me, you hear a lot of train horns. We are on the Empire Builder, after all. 80 trains or more per day.) My cell phone is a fairly clunky little thing, with none of the bells and whistles one has come to expect with modern mobiles. Still, even the crappiest hunk of plastic has a camera in it these days!
Top speed of 50 m.p.h. my tuckuss. The train was hammering down on us at a rate closer to 70! No wonder it had made such good time from Hawley. I only had time to pull out my cell, blunder through the menu options, and click one single off-the-cuff picture before the monster rammed right on past and continued out east. And that one hip-shot picture?
Shazam.
Funny how a moment taken to pray can transform a miserable morning into a bit of God-given adventure, no? 
|
| | Posted 7/9/2009 10:38 AM - 19 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
