Life's Railway to Heaven

I went back today. Back to the old stomping grounds of my childhood. I can't even begin to count the number of hours I spent on these old railroad tracks. It's been 25-years since I last visited. Today I took my 11-year old son along so he could see what boys did back before Playstation was invented. We parked at my parent's house, walked across the road, climbed the fence, walked through the cow pasture and into my past. There were a few changes since I had last been there. The cow pasture was void of cows. Weeds and blackberry bushes have taken over. The creek is only about ankle deep now and runs slowly. It used to be deep enough for all of us to jump in and swim and was rather swift. We used to fish, catch crawdads, and skip rocks across the water.

Once we stepped onto the railroad tracks though, it was just the same as it had been 25-years ago. The strong stench of Creosote emitting from the wooden railroad ties sent my mind reeling into my childhood. I reminisced of how I used to balance and walk on top of the rails for miles. Of course my son had to test his skills as a rail walker. He did pretty good for his very first try. We collected a few shiny rocks and an old used spike. I remember collecting those things when I was his age and I still have some of them in a box somewhere. These little mementos would mean nothing to the average person, but to me they are like little pieces of Heaven.

Life's Railway to Heaven
Charles D. Tillman - Public Domain

Life is like a mountain railway,
With an engineer that’s brave;
We must make the run successful,
From the cradle to the grave;
Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels;
Never falter, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

Refrain:
Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore,
When the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.

You will roll up grades of trial;
You will cross the bridge of strife;
See that Christ is your conductor
On this lightning train of life;
Always mindful of obstruction,
Do your duty, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

You will often find obstructions,
Look for storms and wind and rain;
On a fill, or curve, or trestle
They will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus,
Never falter, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

As you roll across the trestle,
Spanning Jordan’s swelling tide,
You behold the Union Depot
Into which your train will glide;
There you’ll meet the Sup’rintendent,
God, the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous plaudit,
“Weary Pilgrim, welcome home.”