Jun
Trains and Time
Today they call it the North Jersey Coast Line. Years ago it was the New York and Long Branch. It is the railroad line that runs along the New Jersey Shore from South Amboy to Bayhead. Today is it strictly for commuters. Decades ago, the line also hauled freight.
The train is part of the regular motion of life at the shore. Its passage causes traffic to stop, with the lowering of crossing gates. Gates lower and rise, as do drawbridges along its route. At some stops the train even blocks traffic for a few moments, and then it resumes its journey. The rhythm of the railroad is part of the rhythm of the Shore itself. Within the greater rhythm is the opening and closing of drawbridges for automobiles, the passage of large boats through inlets and the movement of time and tides.
Our lives are mirrored by the greater events, such as the passage of Moon and Sun, the turning of months into seasons, and the winding of season into years. This is the orchestration that is a background for our own individual lives. We move amid all of these motions and cycles, from the scheduled passage of a train to the slow transit of distant stars. Time is measured by movement. We live and move within the milieu of time and space.
There are many such orchestrations in life. One touches another, and that meets another. While we consider the linear, forward motion of our lives, it is good to occasionally step back and recognize the other movements in the world around us. Is it coincidence, or is coincidence merely a higher movement intervening on a lesser one? Is it one, or both, or something else? These are good things to ponder.
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Coincidences are intriguing. Are they mere coincidence or is something else at work? For instance, the other day’s daily lesson was entitled Heimdall Bridge. Part of the lesson was that to cross a bridge is to honor Heimdall. Of course that is not the only way to honor him. Yesterday my friend Jordsvin announced his article, which he had written for the Spring edition of Idunna, a Heathen magazine. Here is a link to his article about Heimdall: http://tinyurl.com/6ffaly
Here is the longer URL:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin/Paths%20To%20The%20Gods/heimdallr%20article%20revised.htm
