It has been seven weeks since I fussed about several songs, good songs, but ones that had become earworms, and I am happy to report that I’ve all but forgotten about them. That good news is tempered by the truth that I’m rarely without some little ditty on replay in my mind, with a new song right on the heals of one that vacates, a song heard repeatedly as I settle on an album of the month, hitting PLAY again instead of replacing the background track of my daily life. So, when Jason Fawks’ “Hymns on a Steinway” moved into my CD player, it should have been a no-brainer that one of those hymns would soon occupy my head.
We heard him play at The Amish Door in Wilmot, Ohio
Track 15 – “This Train” – is the lucky winner, supplying an upbeat melody for my head, also energizing my feet, nudging me to step back from the kitchen counter and dance a bit. Yes! As foretold in “So, How am I doing?” the time has come, three months after my back surgery, for dancing!
I’ve only ever known the first line of the 1930’s gospel song, “This train is bound for glory, this train.” Seven words are perfect for an earworm! Today, I’m focusing in on just one of those words. GLORY. Trains go places, and this one is “bound for glory,” making it a destination. What place is more glorious than Heaven? The writer of Psalm 73 confirms, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?” God’s dwelling place is surely full of his glory, the essence of who he is, the beauty that emanates from his character (see “What is the glory of God?”). One definition offered by merriam-webster.com for glory is “the splendor and beautific happiness of heaven.” I want to be on the train that is headed there!
As we clickity-clack through this life, is it possible to get a glimpse of that glory of God? Of course! We see it in the heavens.
In fact, all of nature exhibits the glory of the Creator in such marvelous variety that there is something to inspire awe in every person. This week, as I sat at our dining room table with my son and husband, I was feeling fatigue and discouragement when, suddenly, we heard tiny maple seeds tapping on the bay window and witnessed a whirlwind filled with twirling seeds on the other side of the glass. It was such a delightful surprise, a gift to me to lighten my spirit, a moment shared by the three of us, something we couldn’t recall seeing before.
The Got Questions author who answered “What is the glory of God?” made the point that people, as well as nature, can exhibit God’s glory through love, music, heroism and other things we can do and be. Sometimes another’s seemingly small act of service makes us very aware of God’s character. This week, I wanted to prepare some yarn for a crochet project. I attempted to wind the yarn into a ball, anticipating a tangled mess, and getting one. My patience ran out and I and put it aside until later. That evening, my husband noticed me trying to work with the yarn and was there in an instant, somehow energized with calm patience to win victory over the tangle. As I held the small ball I had rolled, he located the other end and systematically worked toward me, tracing the strands, loosening what I had tightened, until the task was finished. As I remained calm, allowing him to do the work, holding onto the progress I had made, being still and patient, the moment became intimate, full of God’s glory. I hope that you can think of a moment like that.
Whether we are filled with wonder in small moments like these or at the roar of the ocean or the birth of a child, God has put his fingerprint, his glory, in all of the earth. The trouble is that we tend to take the credit for his good gifts to us or to worship nature, the created things, rather than the Creator. But all of these things are temporary and will pass away. Our train ride isn’t that long and has been compared to grass of the field that withers and dies quickly.To stay on the right track, we do well to humble ourselves and ascribe all glory to God.
I looked up the lyrics for “This Train” and found the phrase that completes the chorus. “This train is bound for glory. Don’t carry nothing but the righteous and the holy. This train is bound for glory. This train.” I didn’t get to board that train with my own righteousness as a ticket. I’m included among the “All” who have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But Jesus paid for my ticket on the cross and I am bound for heaven where I will see the fullness, rather than glimpses, of the glory of God. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
It’s hard to imagine how I will be able to take in the splendid radiance of all of His Glory! I do know that my Joy will be even greater as I recognize so many others who came to know Jesus as Savior. And I wonder, as the song “I Can Only Imagine” asks,
“Will I dance for you, Jesus, or in awe of you be still?”