The train crawled to a stop, but not at a station. While the conductor explained about a signal light, I realized that it was going to be a long train ride. Earlier, when I arrived at our station, I observed a train delay notice. When getting on my train, I hoped that the schedule must be catching up, since a “person accident” had taken place over two hours earlier. Unfortunately, we reached the 1/3 point of the ride about the time our train usually arrives at my transfer station.
At one of the stops, the information signs indicated that it would be around an hour to get to my transfer station. I calculated that I would miss almost all my shortened class that day and left the train before the lines of people boarded our already crowded train.
“I won’t be coming to class today,” I sadly texted my teacher. I then walked around the station for a while, waiting for the right train to come that would take me back home. I also contemplated the meaning of “person accident.”
As the year ends, many people reflect on the past year and look to the future. Though a good and helpful practice, for Japanese businessmen this may bring sorrow. For some, the previous year was in the red, and there seems to be no hope for their company’s future. For others, the next year brings more of the same of what they consider monotonous, insufferable work. For yet others, their jobs, and therefore their life meaning, will be coming to an end. They have no hope, and therefore some choose to end their lives by way of a speeding train.
At one of the stops, the information signs indicated that it would be around an hour to get to my transfer station. I calculated that I would miss almost all my shortened class that day and left the train before the lines of people boarded our already crowded train.
“I won’t be coming to class today,” I sadly texted my teacher. I then walked around the station for a while, waiting for the right train to come that would take me back home. I also contemplated the meaning of “person accident.”
As the year ends, many people reflect on the past year and look to the future. Though a good and helpful practice, for Japanese businessmen this may bring sorrow. For some, the previous year was in the red, and there seems to be no hope for their company’s future. For others, the next year brings more of the same of what they consider monotonous, insufferable work. For yet others, their jobs, and therefore their life meaning, will be coming to an end. They have no hope, and therefore some choose to end their lives by way of a speeding train.
During this time of year, Christians remember hope, both fulfilled and future. The hope of the centuries was fulfilled when the Christ, the Messiah, was born. The hope of Jesus’ return and the resulting restoration will happen because God is faithful and has proven Himself from the beginning. Through Jesus and His death and resurrection, every life has meaning and purpose. This is the message that these Japanese businessmen need to hear, and this is one major reason we came to Japan. There is hope found in Jesus and among those who follow Him.
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