Faithfully Yours - Where to?

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Published on Saturday, May 16, 2015

By Neil Strohschein

I will never forget the first ride I took on a passenger train. I was 10 at the time. My father decided to go to Edmonton to visit my aunt and uncle; and he invited me to come along.

They had just built a new home. Our place was getting too small and my parents were busy looking at plans, getting quotes and setting aside the funds to build a new house. Our trip to Edmonton was a “snooping trip.” We were going to tour their new home, snoop around a bit and get some ideas which could later be incorporated into the plans for our new home.

We got up early on a Sunday morning, finished our chores, had breakfast and headed for town. When the train (two Budd Dayliner cars coupled together) arrived, we got out of our car, locked it and prepared to get on board.

We were met by the train’s Conductor. He looked at my father and said: “Where to, sir?”

“Edmonton,” my dad replied. “To the right, please,” the conductor said; so we climbed aboard, turned to the right and joined the passengers in the second car. It was the first of many train rides I would take in my life—as the train became my preferred means of transportation.

As I was thinking about this event last week, I wondered how I would have answered if someone had come to me the day I graduated from high school and said: “Where to, Neil? Where to?”

At that time, my answer would have been: “Calgary, Alta. to attend college and prepare for the ministry.” I could never have imagined the path I would take after that—the towns and cities in which I would live, the churches I would serve or the incredible people I would meet.

I would never have imagined the times of heartache and heartbreak that lay ahead, the challenges I would face or the hurts and disappointments I would have to endure. Nor could I have thought of the ways in which I would learn to love, accept and forgive others as God has loved, accepted and forgiven me—a truth that now dominates my preaching.

If someone had come to me at the lowest point in my life and said: “Where to now, Neil? Where to,” I would never have spoken of the path of healing that lay ahead of me; and the way in which I would learn to accept God’s forgiveness, forgive those who hurt me and move on with life. It was not a path I would have chosen—but it is a path I do not regret having had to take.

Now, as I look to the future, I see another day (I hope it won’t come for at least another 30 years) when I will be asked the same question. On that day, I will stand on this side of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and the great Conductor will say to me: “Where to now, Neil? Where to?”

The Scriptures assure us that those who believe in Jesus Christ have been given the gift of eternal life—and when death comes, they leave their bodies behind and go to be with Jesus.

So when the great Conductor says: “Where to, Neil,” I will say with confidence: “To the home my Savior (Jesus the Christ) has prepared for me in the house of his Heavenly Father. My belief in Christ is my ticket to heaven.”

I pray that when you face your hour of death, you will be able to speak those words as well.