After sulking and being utterly disgusted with myself and the choices I had just made, I began to walk in the opposite direction down the tracks. As luck would have it, a strange man came riding on a donkey down the road next to the tracks. He called out to me asking if I was alright and if I had been one of those the long black train had abandoned. I confirmed His suspicions with a shameful head nod.
He began to speak of a better way. He said it wasn’t the easiest way, nor was it the most glamorous but it was the best way. He said it was a gift and free to anyone who would accept it, but hard work and determination were needed if one was going to continue on this path for an entire lifetime.
I was skeptical of this strange man. He made promises that sounded too good to be true, and I had just had a life of ease back on the long black train. Why should I not try to get back on the train and live that life again? Yes, it was painful and left me feeling miserable, but at least it was easy and everyone else was headed back in that direction. Then He promised me something that caught me off guard.
He promised He knew how this emptiness in my soul could be filled. He told me how I could live in a way that brought meaning and fulfillment to my life. He told me of a way, He told me of The Way. He handed me a book of writings and maps. He said “All the answers your heart is desiring are written inside this book.” He called it the Bible. He turned back around and headed back towards the others who were on the train with me, but not before He pointed me in the direction I needed to go. I started back home with a new found hope.