It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry

I never could figure out that song title from Bob Dylan’s 1965 “Highway 61 Revisited” for a long time and there wasn’t much within the songs lyrics that gave a clue either. In fact there wasn’t much in the lyrics of the whole album that made a lot of sense, but for a fourteen year old boy when it was the first LP record you had ever gone out with your saved up pocket money and bought for yourself, it was pure magic. That album, along with Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck informed my vision of Americana, growing up as a teenager in Northern Ireland.

Now, having been through a number of goodbyes and farewells through the years, I think I get the hang of it. It takes somethng of an effort to create and keep your life filled with fun and happiness, but it only takes the mournful wail of a train drifting off into the distance (or the whine of an airplane) with someone you love on it to bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye.

On this occasion it is Ryan and Dana Bocock with their three little girls who are quickly passing out of our lives. They have been our neighbours here in Park of the Nations since we arrived a year and a half ago. They have helped us immensely in the early days of settling in and have played a huge part in the life of our growing community. We’ve enjoyed forest picnics, pancake breakfasts, and 4th of July parties with them, and we’ll miss them lots. Ryan’s laidback Texan style contrasted with Dana’s energetic go-getter personality. Though they were out and out Americans, they had an insatiable appetite for all things Portuguese, and a deep love of the culture and the people and every weekend had to be filled with visits to Sintra, to Belem, to the museums and gardens that this city excels. And this infectious exultation in life was carried on through their children, who we will always remember of an evening desperately fighting off sleep in order to keep on playing and enjoying all that the day still had to offer.

So it’s back to Austin, Texas and a different future and a new area of service. Their going leaves me with the two realities of living this life for God as we do. One that God brings just the right people into our lives for the right season of our lives in order to fulfil His plan and purpose for our lives. The second is that when God removes someone he always has another chapter about to open up. There’s never a vacuum with God. When the curtain closes on one particular scene, it lifts almost immediately on the next scene.

I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. And then they will know that I am the LORD