Trains As Communities: Building Relationships
Trains and the passengers who travel long distances on them can and have been viewed as sort of mini communities, because they form and build relationships. Sometimes those relationships last for a few weeks while others last a lifetime. Come join us on an adventure with a group of people who, by chance meet and become more than just friends, they become part of an extended family. If you have been following our blog you will already know that His Train was contrived from a dream I had in 1999 and has now grown into a series of adventures.
His Train
The train we travel on, it has many stops to make
Each stop has its own message to be heard
One place needs to learn of the Love we can share
While another doesn't know what Mercy is for
Still another needs to be warned, Do Not Compromise
Our train will stay on track as long as we know
That God is leading, day by day, moment by moment
. He has given a great commission, for each one of us
He wants to be the conductor of our lives
He wants us to spread the good news, He's alive
Or sometimes He needs to rebuke, Don't do it!
Or warn when we have gone astray, Should feet do that?
When we read Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 it says
Love Him, with all your heart, soul, and strength
As long as feet do this you will never derail
His train won't stop until it reaches Heaven.
Bernadette Pizzey © July, 1999
Those adventures are shared in the form of a poem (posted above), a blog, a novel series, and more recently a series of short stories.
I've gathered five great articles on this subject. These articles are my attempt to back up or confirm the idea of trains being community of sorts. The following blogs are about trains as community in which they are working on building community or relationships to help bring us closer together as more than acquaintances, associates and friends to build and form senses of extended family.
Visions of the glory train, a train full of people (a community as it were) who are in a sense residing on the train as it crosses from end of Canada to another stopping along the way to minister to and preach the word of God. Several people have come forward, speaking of their visions in the past few weeks, months and years. Some see it as a sign of revival others are saying it’s evidence of a change of lifestyle.
Craig Greenfield – writes a blog called Creative World. Justice and in it he lets his readers know the difference between short-term and long-term mission trips, asking, is there such a thing as a short-term Christian? If you answered no, then how can there be such a thing, as short-term missions? Our call to missions begins as soon as we come to call Jesus our Lord. Better ways to look at missions trips or ventures are:
Vision (or Exposure) Trips – Praying, working, living with and ministering to the impoverished, becoming part of their lives, families and communities takes time and a sense of caring what happens to them as living human beings who have nothing, bringing them to a knowledge of others do care and will help.
Learning Exchanges – Traveling together as learners, minds being expanded and challenging preconceptions and learning from God teaching each other about our own individual expertise’s to help each other grow as parts of the community they are living and learning in.
Discernment Retreats – Pursuing vocation in any field, learning to go where God sends and delving into the heart of God. Learning how to be a teacher, banker, architect, planner and help design as well as build the cities that will house the homeless, bringing the reality of their lives as the inner communities within the larger communities they live in.
The second question asked in this article posted on the New York Times blog and asked by Edward Wong is:
“Q. You spent a lot of time in enclosed spaces while in motion, under different conditions and with a huge variety of people. What were the logistics and challenges of shooting on the trains?”
The train is a temporary community to which, you will find each car is unique in itself with a strange feeling of, as entering, you feel like you have stepped into someone else’s space. Now you will need to figure out how to immerse yourself into that community, much like moving into a new town or city and find new friends.
With each car you enter it is a matter of starting all over again, finding a place that feels okay to sit/join, introduce yourself, and enter into conversation with. However, by moving from car to car increased the size of new companions and friends so that when going into a previous car, welcome was felt and enjoyed.
This document is more about employees as well as the four bloggers who joined them for the cross Canada Via Rail trek. They discovered that by the end of the 4-day trek from Hamilton to Vancouver. It turned out to be much more than just a trip, consisting of the group traveling together to test out accommodations, the new on board menu or the voyage itself. There was no WiFi, no 3G or any other connection to electronics for large portions of the trip, but there was comradery, conversation and getting to know each other. One of the bloggers said, “Getting to know the other passengers and socializing for real instead of just virtually was also part of the train curriculum.”
Hope Shete, blogs about the importance of improving interpersonal relationships, which goes hand in hand, with life commuting from one place to another on the train.
Give yourself to others. By giving yourself to others, you give the greatest gift you could ever give.
Treasure and protect you friendship.Let them know how much they are appreciated
Be generous without being overgenerous.Find out what makes a difference to someone else’s life.
Be kind to others and love them sacrificially.Learn about diversities of culture differences, so as not to, unintentionally offend.
Practice teamwork where ever you are.Look for others within your community to which you can share your values and interests as well as learn about theirs.
http://charlesandhudson.com/welcome_aboard_your_repurposed_train_car_home/
