Some Sundays the lyrics from a great piece of Christian music will be featured. It's not that I want worship to revert to using all hymns, it's just that many modern Christian songs don't SAY anything. I really miss some deeper meaning. So I'm going to remind us of some great words.
Life Is like A Mountain Railroad
M. E. Abbey & Charles Davis Tillman- 1890
the lyrics may have originally been written by a woman, Eliza R.Snow
Life is like a mountain railroad, 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 quail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Chorus:
Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where 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 hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Chorus
You will often find obstructions; look for storms of 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 hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Chorus
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 Superintendent, God the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous, plaudit, "Weary pilgrim, welcome home!"
Chorus
This song is considered corny by those who don't like bluegrass and or trains, and a classic by those who do. I'm in the second group, although I'll be the first to say that there have been a lot of terrible recordings. The music in this video is one of the most popular ever, sung by Patsy Cline. I wanted a video with moving trains, to better illustrate the story. People may think that trains just drive themselves and stay on the rails. Not so, and when trains were the primary mode of long-distance transportation, it was just logical that someone would see the parallel between driving a train and the Christian life.
2 comments:
I'm in the second group. It is one of the numbers I sing when we attend bluegrass and country jams! Never recorded it. You might place that in the "terrible" category. ;-)
I too am in the second group. Love the music and emotion of blue grass music. Americana at its best!
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