"On the Tracks"?

The title "On the Tracks" is a very personal reference to walking with Christ. I first responded to Jesus' saving work as a child of about 6, after a friend named Jane Patterson told me what she had learned during a week of summer camp at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I was raised in a Christian home so I knew of Jesus, and believe that I have been his since my parents began praying for me before my birth. But that Sunday afternoon feels like a beginning for me as we walked along the railroad tracks. It made sense. My heart said "yes" to the God who had already said "yes" to me. And that wasn't the only thing that "clicked". So did my Dad's camera as he and Mom walked behind us.

In January, 2005 I published a book called "XXV Sonnets", a gift to Alicia on our 25th anniversary. Its 25 poems tell the story of our lives. Sonnet No. 5 tells of that day:

V.

Along a winding track there walked a child,
and at his side, a friend to share the day.
They spoke of pleasant times, and lessons mild
as onward in the path they found their way.
The sun was beaming down, the sky was blue;
upon his face he felt a pleasant wind.
The trees grew tall before them, straight and true,
as he walked on and listened to his friend.
She told the boy of only what she knew;
in childlike faith, the mystery she traced.
and as she spoke of stories old and true,
his heart discerned another voice – of grace.
Upon the tracks a boy walked with his friend,
and walking still, until the journey’s end.

© Rick Lindholtz, 2004