One of today’s adventures included a visit to the National Railway Museum in York, which is the largest Railway Museum in the world. There are over 100 trains in a variety of sheds set out in ways for enthusiasts young and old to explore. This activity was for my husband’s benefit mainly, but the rest of us found things to amuse and intrigue us as he saw all he wanted to see there.

I was stunned, as I often am around trains in settings such as this, as to just how HUGE they are. With the older steam trains their main wheel was often bigger than I was, and it caused me to wonder as to why I don’t get the sense of how large trains are when I have ridden them in the past. They just don’t seem that tall.

It dawned on me as I was considering this today that normally I am not standing next to the train at ground level, but at platform level when I board a train. This then set me thinking about the fact that when I ride a train there is about one third more to the train that is unseen, below the floor or platform level. As I thought about this even further I recognised that it is this lower level where all the activity happens that generates the speed for me to reach my destination.

It made me smile as I remembered the saying about people being more like a duck – that is, all calm and unflustered on the water’s surface but paddling like a maniac underneath. I then also considered how we don’t always know what lies underneath with most people we might encounter. They can appear as one thing but have so much more to them on a level that we don’t always get to see, but when you do it is something stunning and beautiful and amazing.

This is not only true with others we see, but with us all, with you. You are a wonderful feat of creative engineering and strength all wrapped up in something that is breathtaking to behold when you give people the chance to see the whole ‘you’.

I hope this small thought serves as a helpful reminder for you today, and the next time you see a train whiz past!

Be blessed.