IN TOUCH: All Aboard the Spiritual Train

Why the 2020 vote matters more than ever to African Americans

By Betty Buttram

Of Fort Wayne Ink Spot

Sometimes there is a call for identification and that can be a challenge. Sometimes there is a time for questioning things and that can be a challenge. Sometimes there are things that require a special effort that will take a lot of energy to stay grounded. We have been challenged physically, mentally and spiritually for most of this year.

There are Bad Spirits out there who are playing with issues that seek to divide us by using our Christianity for their own purposes. There are folks who fear the loss of their privilege and stir up hatred to divide the nation. There are folks stirring up at least three of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed and wrath.

We must stay rooted in our faith. For he who dislikes his brother is wandering in spiritual darkness and doesn’t know where he is going, for the darkness had made him blind so that he cannot see the way (1 John 2:11).

We cannot let the Bad Spirits lurking in the darkness shut off our Light. They won’t be able to do this because Jesus Christ is lighting the way for us as we travel as passengers on the Spiritual Train.

There are compartments on a train. On a regular passenger train, there is a lounge, observation car, dining car and café. On the Spiritual Train, there is a YouTube car, a Zoom Room car and the Prayer lounge. Because we have been confined to our homes, only going out when necessary, we’ve found ways to keep in touch with each other and our Christian spirit through technology. God always makes a way.

In the YouTube car, there are pastors all over and you can listen to any one of them. There is a pastor preaching that God knows our pain and that the Holy Spirit will be with us in our Weakness. He continues that we must learn how to pray, whom to pray to and what to pray for. Another pastor says true faith requires action and obedience; another says we need to read the Book of Romans, especially Chapter 8. Another pastor is saying that taking care of the poor and our neighbors is called Christianity but in the political world it is called socialism.

The Zoom Room requires participation. You join in and everybody knows you are in the room. You are greeted like an old friend. You can sing along with the hymns, Scripture is read, and the pastors preach the same thing that was heard on YouTube about the world of today. After the service is over, the host unmutes everybody and there is fellowship. You cannot touch each other but you can wave and tell how Jesus Christ got you through the week.

The last car on the Spiritual Train is the Prayer Lounge, where you can get yourself a cup of tea filled with kindness, joy, hope, love, faith and quotes from the Scriptures:

Proverbs: 24:19-20: Don’t envy the wicked. Don’t cover his riches. For the evil man has no future; his light will be snuffed out.

Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3-4: What a wonderful God we have. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.

The Spiritual Train is full of prayerful people. We know Jesus is the Light and as Christians we shine in the Light. Get on board the Spiritual Train, for the Holy Spirit is the Conductor driving us to the Light, Jesus Christ, and God our Father has us all in His hands.