Daily Word of Grace # 144 (October 2, 2020)
In Orlando, Florida on March 4, 2000 my wife Steph and I attended the first of what would be many concerts of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was one of the best nights of our lives—cathartic, exhilarating, unforgettable. The final song they played that night was essentially a gospel song, “Land of Hopes and Dreams” in which the Boss sings, “Grab your ticket and your suitcase, thunder’s rolling down the tracks. You don’t know where you’re goin’ now but you know you won’t be back. Darlin’ if you’re weary lay your head upon my chest. We’ll take what we can carry and we’ll leave the rest…I will provide for you and I’ll stand by your side. You’ll need a good companion for this part of the ride. Leave behind your sorrows. Let this day be the last. Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine and all this darkness past. Big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams. Meet me in a land of hope and dreams.” Who is invited aboard this train bound for “a land of hopes and dreams”? Everyone: “This train carries saints and sinners. This train carries losers and winners. This train carries whores and gamblers. This train carries lost souls. I said, this train carries broken-hearted. This train thieves and sweet souls departed. This train carries fools and kings. This train, all aboard.” And the Conductor of this train is none other than “God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). When it comes to the love and grace of God, Springsteen is right, “This train, all aboard.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave