I ventured back on my journey homeward. The path seemed longer and the day grew hotter without a traveling companion. I began to grow frustrated with my circumstances. I cried out to the God of the Bible I had been reading, asking Him why He didn’t stop these awful things from happening, and I demanded He answer all my questions I had about life. I never physically heard anything, but I did get a strange feeling I was being watched.
Suddenly, I was tumbling down the path and a sharp pain was throbbing in my arm. Once I stopped I realized a wild dog had just attacked me and more were on their way to rip me to shreds. Thankfully, I landed near a hand sized rock. Grabbing it, I struck the dog in the head causing it to release from my arm. It tucked its tail and took off with the others following suit.
I cried out in pain and anger, cursing God, if He even existed. How could there be a God, let alone a loving God, when all this pain and suffering was happening? Lying down, struggling to find the strength to keep moving, I broke down. I knew I should have gone back to the train. I was enjoying myself on the train. I wasn’t being attacked, I was famous, I could have sex whenever I wanted, and I had an endless amount of pleasures to indulge in at any moment. If only I had stayed on the long black train.
I heard the thunder of a gun going off not far in the distance. I began yelling and pleading with whoever was out there to come and help me. The last thing I remember before passing out was the clomping of hooves and squeaking of wagon wheels. When I awoke, a fire was blazing and I could make out a shadowy character across from me.
My arm was wrapped in leaves and a cloth, feeling much better at the moment than it had before I passed out. The person across the fire came nearer when he realized I was awake. He asked me how I was feeling after the fall and being attacked. I told him I felt lucky to be alive with how awful life was going earlier that day. He responded quickly and firmly “don’t be so dramatic.” I was shocked. Who did this stranger think he was? He had no idea what I had been through in the last few hours. Who was he to tell me not to be so dramatic?
I quickly found out who he was and why he was able to respond to me with such a blunt but honest answer. He was an old man who had seen prosperity early in life and lost it all when he took a ride on the long black train. He told me all about the long black train, the cars becoming darker and more horrifying the longer he stayed on it.
I was lucky, he said, to have been kicked off so early and I should not go back chasing it down begging for another ride. He told of stories from the cars of abuse, murder, molestation, and rape, just how awful those cars truly are and how devastating they can be to all involved.
They change one’s mind, warping it into something it was never intended to become. The old man told countless personal and eye witness accounts of how terrible the truly train is. I had no idea such evil lurked inside the long black train. It appeared to be so harmless and pleasurable. We talked on into the night and eventually both of us fell asleep.
I awoke at sunrise to help load the wagon and then continue my journey homeward. The old man told me to climb aboard. He would be more than happy to finish the journey alongside me. As we bounced down the rough path, we conversed for a little while. I pulled out my Bible and tried to read it but it was no use. The path was much too bumpy.
The old man noticed what I was reading and grinned. He pulled out his Bible. Beat up, torn, and tattered, I said it looked as if it had been through a war. He looked down, tears beginning to well up in his eyes and said it actually had been through a war and a multitude of spiritual battles. I was astonished. I hoped to one day be like this happy old man. He began to teach me many things about the Bible, how to read and interpret it properly, as well as, how best to answer my many questions.
One night I dreamed of once again boarding the long black train. It was a pleasantly enticing dream of enjoying what the train offers. All throughout the rest of that day I began to desire to enjoy the pleasure of the long black train. I was horrified with myself. I actually wanted to go back to the long black train knowing all I knew about it. I decided to mention this desire to the old man. Without hesitation he told me he still had those dreams and sometimes desired to creep back to it. However, he battled these thoughts with the verses he had memorized over the years. I was thankful for his guidance and wisdom as we continued our discussion. The trip back home passed by quickly now that we were riding and conversing.
We made it back home in about a week. I had no idea how long I had actually been on the train and just how far I had gone until I was kicked off. Time seemed to stand still while on the train but in reality it was quickly passing. The old man confirmed this as well, from his personal experience on the train. When we entered the town I was surprised to see friends and family there waiting on me, ready to love me and catch me up on the happening of the town. I was blown away by their love and compassion.
They told me A Man on a donkey had passed through town several weeks ago and introduced them to The Way, the Christian way of life. He had radically changed the town and the people in the town with His preaching and teaching. What most impressed everyone was the way in which He carried himself and treated others. I just knew this was the same Man I had met after being abandoned by the train. This man was the man I had been reading about in my Bible. This man was Jesus. He came to search out and save the lost. He came to resurrect the dead. He came as a sacrifice for our sins. He came to destroy the grip of the long black train on all the captive souls on board.