Don't Go to Sleep While Sunbathing on a Railroad Track

Two young teen girls each lost a foot when they were hit by a train while sunbathing on a railroad track in Maine. At the time of the story I read, both girls were in critical condition and had not yet been interviewed by police. Authorities speculate that either they had fallen asleep while sunbathing on the tracks or were listening to music on their Ipods and did not hear the train coming. One witness reported seeing the girls trying to scramble out of the train's way at the last moment, but they did not quite make it.

This is a tragedy and I certainly do not want to make light of what happened to these two youngsters. Yet one cannot help but wonder, "What were they thinking?" Why would anyone lie out sunning on a railroad track, much less allow herself to drift off to sleep in such a position?

News reports indicate that this appears to be a genuine accident. There is no suggestion that these young girls were attempting to harm themselves. Suicide by lying on a track is a fairly common means for troubled young people to take their lives, but that does not seem to be a possibility in this case.

The story said that this track was used by only one train a day. If the girls were local, they probably knew that and had some idea of what time the train ran. Maybe they lost track of time. If they were sound asleep, perhaps lots of time passed as they slumbered. In any event, they were not thinking clearly. They did not show proper respect for the dangerous situation into which they had put themselves and, unfortunately for them, they will have to pay a heavy price for that error in judgment.

The spiritual lessons from this story are clear . . . a lot of people are not paying attention to the danger of leaving God out of their lives. They are, if you will, asleep on the tracks. Blithely they pass through their lives without thinking seriously about the universal truth that everyone must appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Pray that the girls (whose names are Rachel and Destiny) will survive and be able to make the adjustments necessary to have happy and successful lives. However, once our lives here are over, it will be too late to make adjustments to prepare ourselves for Judgment Day. So wisdom says don't go to sleep on railroad tracks. A greater wisdom says we need to think soberly and prepare ourselves to meet the Lord in judgment.