How many times have I moved, only to find out that even one of the most beautiful places on Earth --- still does not perfectly fit?
I attended High School in Montana during the beginning months of my Sophomore year. Not having my drivers license at that age, I walked to school on the railroad tracks by my grandparents home. There were mornings during the Fall time that the air would be pure yellow. It was as if I could grab chunks of yellow with my bare hands and stuff them in my coat pockets.
Montana truly is big sky country and that's a ton of yellow. Once the sun came out, everything woke up to its original color. The railroad track today, is a symbol of a huge life marker for me. It leaves tracks that I was once here and walked along the western frontier with opportunity waiting around the bend.
As memorable as those days were, now they are mere memories. I'm still traveling the line by the rivers' edges and stopping in remote towns to visit with the locals. I can admit now, that I'll never be a local -- not even in my hometown.
Father Abraham is described in Genesis, attempting to leave his own railroad tracks in the form of a Tamerix tree. A symbol of sorts to mark his life legend. He was gently reminded by his fellow-man that he would always be a foreigner, even in the land that God had given to him.
After the call of God, we feel less at home even when we are at the center of God's will. Strangely when we are operating close to God's spirit, life hits us that we are nothing more than misfits on this planet; we are aliens. Constant conflict ends up being a divine spiritual setup. A continual restlessness is ever present, and thankfully, that makes me normal.
The Hebrew name for God in Genesis, is El Olam. This means, The Eternal God. Like Abraham, we are programmed for eternity. Based on the context in Genesis, when Abraham planted his tree, I imagine he felt like his time was running out and his life on earth was soon to end. He was showing his conflict with time by planting something that would hang out long after he was gone. It's in our nature to leave something behind when we go.
God has planted a tree of eternity in our hearts. Wherever your home is, there is and always will be a forwarding address. It was appointed for a man once to die and after that is an eternal place of completeness. A place where the divine train takes you to a place unkempt by time and space.
All Aboard!
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
