Saturday, December 10, 2011
Another Hundred People Just Got Off of the Train
Another hundred people just got off of the train
And came up through the ground,
While another hundred people just got off of the bus
And are looking around
At another hundred people who got off of the plane
And are looking at us
Who got off of the train
And the plane and the bus
Maybe yesterday.
It's a city of strangers,
Some come to work, some to play.
A city of strangers,
Some come to stare, some to stay.
And every day
The ones who stay
Can find each other in the crowded streets and the guarded parks,
By the rusty fountains and the dusty trees with the battered barks,
And they walk together past the postered walls with the crude remarks.
And they meet at parties through the friends of friends who they never
know.
"Do I pick you up or do I meet you there or shall we let it go?"
"Did you get my message? 'Cause I looked in vain."
"Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain?"
"Look, I'll call you in the morning or my service will explain."
And another hundred people just got off of the train.
It's a city of strangers,
Some come to work, some to play.
A city of strangers,
Some come to stare, some to stay.
And every day
Some go away
Or they find each other in the crowded streets and the guarded parks,
By the rusty fountains and the dusty trees with the battered barks,
And they walk together past upholstered walls with the crude remarks.
And they meet at parties through the friends of friends who they never
know.
"Do I pick you up or do I meet you there or shall we let it go?"
"Did you get my message? 'Cause I looked in vain."
"Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain?"
"Look, I'll call you in the morning or my service will explain."
And another hundred people just got off of the train.
-Stephen Sondheim
I've just been thinking a lot about how we spend our time here on earth. How we don't take the time to really look at people. We don't seem to see each other as sojourners in life's adventure. Most of the time we don't even see life as an adventure. It often breaks down to the day to day responsibilities. The days become repetative. Wake up. Make some coffee. Go to work. Drudge along. Come home. Eat dinner. Take care of household responsibilities. Go to sleep. And then the next day we start over.
I don't want to just come and go. I don't want to be one of the "hundreds of people getting off of the train." I want to look. I want to see. I want to know people, look them in the eyes, and then walk with them. Hear their stories, share my own. Join in humanity's desperate search to reconnect with its creator. Our time is so short. Like a vapor. Let's make the vapor count.
And came up through the ground,
While another hundred people just got off of the bus
And are looking around
At another hundred people who got off of the plane
And are looking at us
Who got off of the train
And the plane and the bus
Maybe yesterday.
It's a city of strangers,
Some come to work, some to play.
A city of strangers,
Some come to stare, some to stay.
And every day
The ones who stay
Can find each other in the crowded streets and the guarded parks,
By the rusty fountains and the dusty trees with the battered barks,
And they walk together past the postered walls with the crude remarks.
And they meet at parties through the friends of friends who they never
know.
"Do I pick you up or do I meet you there or shall we let it go?"
"Did you get my message? 'Cause I looked in vain."
"Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain?"
"Look, I'll call you in the morning or my service will explain."
And another hundred people just got off of the train.
It's a city of strangers,
Some come to work, some to play.
A city of strangers,
Some come to stare, some to stay.
And every day
Some go away
Or they find each other in the crowded streets and the guarded parks,
By the rusty fountains and the dusty trees with the battered barks,
And they walk together past upholstered walls with the crude remarks.
And they meet at parties through the friends of friends who they never
know.
"Do I pick you up or do I meet you there or shall we let it go?"
"Did you get my message? 'Cause I looked in vain."
"Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain?"
"Look, I'll call you in the morning or my service will explain."
And another hundred people just got off of the train.
-Stephen Sondheim
I've just been thinking a lot about how we spend our time here on earth. How we don't take the time to really look at people. We don't seem to see each other as sojourners in life's adventure. Most of the time we don't even see life as an adventure. It often breaks down to the day to day responsibilities. The days become repetative. Wake up. Make some coffee. Go to work. Drudge along. Come home. Eat dinner. Take care of household responsibilities. Go to sleep. And then the next day we start over.
I don't want to just come and go. I don't want to be one of the "hundreds of people getting off of the train." I want to look. I want to see. I want to know people, look them in the eyes, and then walk with them. Hear their stories, share my own. Join in humanity's desperate search to reconnect with its creator. Our time is so short. Like a vapor. Let's make the vapor count.
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