Singing too Loud

A story as told by an elderly gentleman who was having difficulty sleeping....
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered mys elf a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when on Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!

Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time the train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we'd just sing a little Louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.

Wow. What a story! What a memory!

There are several levels of application here so I will try to mention only one. You see, I do not think church people are any different today than then. As long as no one bothers us, we just sing a little louder and let the needs of the world go by. The challenges of our city and state are great, yet we will not act until it affects us personally. We cannot solve all the problems, but we can take one step at time to make a difference. The difference begins in me. Then goes to you. So I encourage you today to turn down the volume and open your eyes. And then, take the step God wants you to.
Jim