THE WORLD IS A SUBWAY CAR
Think about the world for a moment as if it were one giant subway car.
People are packed inside.
Some are sitting quietly, staring out the window. Some are talking loudly. Some are laughing. Some are crying where nobody can see. Some are exhausted from the journey. Some are angry. Some are afraid.
Some know exactly where they’re going.
Others aren’t even sure what station comes next.
And somehow, we’re all riding together.
That’s what makes the subway such a powerful picture of our world.
We don’t get to choose everyone who gets on the train.
We don’t get to choose everyone’s politics, religion, race, nationality, economic situation, personality, or past.
We don’t get to know everyone’s story just by looking at them.
The person sitting across from you might be carrying a broken heart.
The person standing beside you might be fighting a battle nobody knows about.
The person who looks angry might have spent the night crying.
The person who seems completely lost might simply need someone to remind them that they aren’t alone.
And here’s the thing:
We’re all passengers.
None of us owns the subway car.
None of us gets to declare that only people who look like us, think like us, worship like us, or vote like us belong inside.
We’re sharing the ride.
And every person on that train has a story.
DIFFERENT STATIONS
Life takes us through different stations.
Birth.
Childhood.
Friendship.
Love.
Loss.
Success.
Failure.
Illness.
Grief.
Change.
Hope.
And eventually, our earthly journey comes to an end.
Some people ride with us for decades.
Others get off after only a few stops.
Some people enter our lives unexpectedly and change everything.
Others leave behind memories that stay with us long after they’ve disappeared through the doors.
That’s life.
We are constantly meeting people at different stations.
And perhaps the question isn’t simply:
“Where are you going?”
Perhaps the more important question is:
“How are you treating the people riding beside you?”
THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU MATTERS
Jesus never seemed overly concerned with building walls between people.
He crossed boundaries.
He talked with people others avoided.
He touched people others considered untouchable.
He stopped for people others walked past.
He noticed people.
That’s something the world desperately needs right now.
We need to notice people again.
Not labels.
Not stereotypes.
Not political categories.
Not social-media arguments.
People.
The human being sitting beside us.
The mother trying to hold her family together.
The veteran carrying memories from a battlefield.
The immigrant hoping for a safer tomorrow.
The elderly person who hasn’t had a meaningful conversation in days.
The teenager wondering if anyone sees them.
The person battling addiction.
The person grieving a spouse.
The person living with chronic illness.
The person who smiles every day while privately wondering how much longer they can keep going.
You may never know what someone is carrying.
So be kind.
SOMETIMES THE TRAIN GETS DARK
Every subway has tunnels.
There are moments when the windows become black and all you can see is your own reflection.
Life has tunnels too.
Cancer.
Parkinson’s.
Dementia.
Grief.
Divorce.
Financial hardship.
Loneliness.
Addiction.
Fear.
Depression.
Loss.
There are seasons when it feels like the train has entered a tunnel and God has disappeared from view.
But here’s something important about a tunnel:
The darkness doesn’t mean the train has stopped moving.
You may not see the destination.
You may not understand the route.
You may not know why you’re going through this particular tunnel.
But the train can still be moving forward.
Sometimes faith is simply holding on until the lights come back on.
DON’T MISS YOUR STOP
One day, every one of us will reach our final station.
And when that happens, I don’t think we’ll be thinking about how many arguments we won on social media.
I don’t think we’ll care who had the better political meme.
I don’t think we’ll wish we’d spent more time proving ourselves right.
We’ll remember people.
We’ll remember conversations.
We’ll remember moments when somebody showed up.
We’ll remember the hand that reached for ours when we were hurting.
We’ll remember the person who prayed with us.
We’ll remember the person who stayed when everyone else left.
So while you’re riding this train called life, don’t miss the opportunities to love people.
Don’t be so busy staring at your phone that you miss the person sitting beside you.
Don’t be so consumed with being right that you forget to be kind.
Don’t become so comfortable in your own little corner of the subway car that you forget there are hurting people everywhere around you.
WE’RE ALL GOING SOMEWHERE
The world is a subway car.
We’re all passengers.
We’re all carrying something.
We’re all headed toward another station.
And maybe our assignment isn’t to control the entire train.
Maybe it’s simply to make the ride a little better for the people God has placed around us.
Offer encouragement.
Give grace.
Listen.
Forgive.
Help somebody carry their bags.
Make room.
Speak hope.
Stand beside the hurting.
Love your neighbor.
And when someone gets on the train who looks different from you, remember:
They’re a passenger too.
They have a story.
They have a destination.
They have hopes.
They have fears.
They have value.
And they were created by the same God who created you.
So let’s stop treating one another like enemies riding in opposing subway cars.
We’re on the same train.
We’re sharing the same journey.
And every station we pass is another opportunity to love somebody.
The doors are closing.
The train is moving.
We don’t know how many stops we have left.
So let’s make every stop count.
Let’s love while we’re here.
Let’s serve while we’re here.
Let’s forgive while we’re here.
Let’s encourage while we’re here.
Let’s point people toward Jesus while we’re here.
And when our journey is finally finished, may we be able to look back and say:
“I didn’t just ride the train.”
“I helped somebody make it to the next station.”
Keep loving.
Keep serving.
Keep encouraging.
Keep overcoming.
And whatever station you’re at today—remember, you’re not riding alone. ~OC
