Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Recently Susan and I were able to take a two day train trip from Moab, Utah to Denver, Colorado. The trip was informative and a lot of fun. Rolling alongside the Colorado River, seeing the majestic views of the Rockies, and hearing the stories of the small towns we passed — it was quite the adventure, for sure.
There were a few different times on our journey where our train had to come to a stop and wait for a much faster Amtrak train (named the Zephyr) to whiz past us. The reason for this is due to the fact Amtrak owns the rights to the railroad, and though the train we were on is allowed to “share” the track, we needed to yield to the Amtrak trains. At one of these pauses, I captured this image of the train tracks which the Zephyr would be rumbling down in a few minutes. The tracks reminded me of how this form of travel goes both ways. One day a train could be traveling east and then the next day, traveling back to the west.
This two-way route made me think of our communication with God. It’s certainly not just one-way. No, it’s most definitely a two-way communication. When we find ourselves in a moment, praying and speaking to God, we need to be very mindful of the part where we stop talking and start listening. That’s the two-way part of that conversation. In general, I would say we (as humans) would rather be speaking – telling our stories, complaining, giving an opinion most of the time. In fact, we would be far better off, especially when it comes to the conversation with our Creator, to be doing a LOT more listening.
Of course, God does want to hear from us. He wants to hear our joys, celebrations, and stories. Yet He also has something to say. If we aren’t willing to close our mouths for a moment, we may miss what He has to tell us. Remember, that’s not always going to be in the form of verbal communication. It could just as easily be a sign of some sort, or a verse we read, or advice from a good friend. Whatever that two-way communication is, we need to be ready to hear/see it. If not, just like that fast-moving Zephyr, it could zoom right by, and we may miss it all together.