The Pastor’s Piece, Pastor Kevin Cernek – Chaplain

November 29, 2024

FCFI
December 1, 2024
About twelve years ago or so, I read that within the next 10 years eighty percent of the general
population would be getting their news from their smartphone. I didn’t believe it then because I
thought that was preposterous. Turns out they were correct. I used to get about 15 magazines a
month. I love reading magazines. I also subscribed to a couple of newspapers for daily news.
Trouble is, now, by the time the paper comes out, the news is old because I get it on my phone
as it happens. But I still love the hard copy. My wife and I still get a couple of magazines via the
United States Postal Service and a couple of newspapers, including this one. One of the
magazines we get is Our Wisconsin. It’s an old school publication that is chock full of feel-good
stories from the first page to the last page- complete with glossy pictures on every page. They
all have to do with how great it is to live in Wisconsin.
The latest issue arrived the day before Thanksgiving. As usual, it was interesting reading all the
way through. One particular article that caught my eye was one titled, “Yellowstone of the East.”
It was about a three-story, stone building built in 1850 by a father and son north of Argyle and
East of Darlington, Wisconsin. It was built because they anticipated that the railroad would be
coming through their town of Yellowstone. It was a 30×60 foot building, massive for its day, that
“opened as a supply and food store, with apartments, a post office and recreation room for
holding dances, spelling bees and Sunday school classes.” Unfortunately, the railroad took a
different route and Yellowstone never came into being, but the building still stands today. It is
used as a barn. The railroad disbanded in the 1940’s and the rails were melted down and used
for manufacturing during World War II, but the stone building has stood the test of time.
That story got me thinking about the old days when the rail system was man’s ticket to the
world. My wife’s great, great grandmother used to get on the train in Martintown, Wisconsin
every summer and ride out to Laton, California to spend time with her relatives. She never had a
driver’s license or a passport, but the rail system opened her up to a world she would otherwise
have never known.
I used to read stories back in the day, about hobos who would jump on the train and travel from
one part of the country to another. Those stories were rather intriguing to a young boy full of
adventure. One article I read talked about how a certain mom, with 8 kids who lived along the
railroad, would set an extra place at the table every night for supper because she never knew
when a drifter might come knocking in search of a warm meal. The dad would offer them a meal
and a night’s stay, if they would agree to doing a designated job before supper. Word got out
and they rarely had a meal without a stranger at the table.
It also reminds me of the time our neighbors, who were retired and liked to travel, were coming
home from somewhere and met a man on the plane who owned a pawn shop in Phoenix,
Arizona. The man’s connection at O’hare Airport fell through and he needed a place to stay for a
couple of days so our friends invited him to stay with them. They brought this high-stakes drifter
to their farm in rural Lafayette County, Wisconsin. For the record, Lafayette County is so rural,
the whole county boasts of not having even one single traffic light. This elderly couple’s adult
children were aghast that their parents would invite a total stranger, a man of the world, to their
home and expose themselves to whatever possibilities could result from such behavior. Turns
out the guy was a great guy.
A few years later, the retired couple from rural Wisconsin came to Arizona to visit my wife and I
and insisted on looking up their pawn shop-owner friend. We found him and also found out that
he not only owned a pawn shop but a limousine service as well. He was happy to give our
friends a limousine and a limo driver to drive us around for the whole week they were visiting. It
was one of the funnest weeks of my life. We invited our college friends out every night
sometimes to do nothing more than drive around the city with no destination in sight. We would
pile into the back of the limo and give the command, and the city was our oyster as they say. As
fate would have it, eventually, some 30 years later, my wife and I ended up living not a half mile
away from our Wisconsin neighbors. Who knew?
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13- “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do
good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their
toil—this is the gift of God.
Life is a journey filled with challenges, growth, and joy. As you embark on your own adventures,
remember to trust in God, embrace the unknown, find strength in Him, and enjoy every step of
the way.
(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin)