Daniel .
As I looked at him from across the bed, there was a slight feeling of fear as I told him I was ready to leave. He said, “Where are you going?” I replied, “I’m going home, I’m tired.” He said, “No, no you can’t leave”, his tone a bit louder in his what we called back then, a Jamaican accent. After a few more words about leaving and and staying, before I knew it – shots were fired across the bed!
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Welcome to the Bus Depot as you know a depot is a place where folks wait for a bus, sometimes a train or cab and nowadays an Uber. Some folk read or share short stories with other riders as they wait, some watch and listen to the other passengers. Some passengers will have absolutely no interaction with those already riding or those waiting for the Bus. Do you ever notice that with all the passengers that enter and exit the bus very few ever have a conversation with the Bus Driver? Sure, they may greet Him when they enter, they may say a few words like “thank you” and “have a good day” when they exit. Some folk get a seat right behind the Driver or just to the right of the Driver may have additional conversations with the Driver, have you ever heard someone say “see ya later or have a nice day to the Bus Driver when they exit from the rear of the bus or spark up a conversation from the middle of the bus. Then there are riders that take every moment as an opportunity to get a glimpse of the Bus Driver only when something has gone awry, they look to the Bus Driver for leadership and/or guidance. Sometimes the Bus Driver will intervene and sometimes He will patiently wait until the next stop and request that the passengers settle down or remove themselves from the Bus. Rarely have I heard of an instance when the Bus Driver needed help maneuvering or driving the Bus from one destination to the another, have you? One day I was on the bus I was so tired, the Bus Driver allowed me to sleep through 2 rounds trips, He showed compassion by allowing a tired stranger get some rest without charging me another fare.
Grab some java in a spill proof mug or something soothing, you already have a good book to read as you travel with me, sit back and relax as we all take a ride of One Woman’s Journey to Freedom. If you are reading this book look for your seat (it’s here) and ride along with the other passengers.
C:13-14For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Bus
Bus Rules
- Put on your seat-belt – sometimes there are will be some major turbulence especially when traveling in the dark;
- Obey the Bus Driver – not obeying the Bus Driver can cause major turbulence and cause you to get thrown to and fro.
- Watch out for black ice – black ice is dangerous for the Bus because you don’t always see it immediately. You may see a warning sign and sometimes you won’t but you will know when you come across it the Bus can begin to slip and slide uncontrollably. With that said it is imperative that you trust the Bus Driver!
Visitors please be mindful of the other bus riders as they are directed to get on and exit the Bus. The Bus Driver may ask you a question about one of your experiences on the Bus while reading this story. I don’t know who this Bus ride is for but I know that it is full of all sorts of folk, loving, envious, adulterers, greedy, unloving, angry, happy, hurt, healed, jealous, abused grateful and ungrateful people. You will find rapists and murderers on this Bus as well as destroyers and helpers. At various stops along the way you will find stories of pain, healing, grace and rejection. It will be interesting to see if you can name the different folk on the Bus as it may not be so apparent at first glance. Finally, please note your Fare has already been paid for this ride.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matter
How to ride the bus, first you must have a destination in mind without a concrete destination you could be traveling around anonymously until the end of the day. My destination was always – downtown. Downtown was composed of stores for shopping, restaurants for eating and places to meet friends and mingling. Life was clean and good back in the 70’s. The next step is deciding what time you would like to leave is very important, the buses all run on a schedule designed to aid the rider in reaching his or her destination on time and returning.
To catch my bus, I would walk 3 blocks and take a left, cross the street and wait for the bus. I would always find myself looking around the corner for the arrival of the bus, as if that would make it come sooner. I didn’t understand the need to “not” continuously look for the bus, because if I was at the correct location to get on the bus when it arrived, I did not need to constantly look for it. Finally, here it comes the excitement builds and I get the opportunity to take yet another ride away from home.
The stops and the door opens, I enter and there is a cylinder contraption right next the Driver, (side bar – the Driver always seem to be a huge person.) So the cylinder contraption is where you put your coins in that allows you to go a certain distance. The Driver would always ask you if you needed a transfer after you paid for the ride. Back then the transfer was a tiny slip of paper that allowed you to continue your journey from one stop to another within a preset time schedule. For example, if I wanted to go across town, my first stop would be downtown and the transfer would allow me to continue on across town, without paying an additional fare.
Once on the bus I become aware of all kinds of visual stimulation that one does not necessarily get to see from riding in a car and certainly not on an airplane. There are multiple conversations, the bus makes frequent stops along the way and people get on and exit the bus. Sometimes there are children playing or crying, some folk have “tuned-out” what going on inside the bus by listening to their “Walkman”. Everyone is pretty much doing their own thing, sometimes if you look out the back window – yes the bus had a back window in my day – you would see someone who running because they missed the bus. They might scream, hoping someone would alert the Driver, sometimes the Driver would stop and there were many days in the rain and freezing snow the Driver would make a decision to keep on driving leaving someone behind….
If you’re not busy come on with me to the next Stop, I hope you enjoy the ride.
…to be continued
