this land

This land has been here for a long time.  On the same land where we live generations have lived before.  Many people from across past times have worked this land and raised crops and families.  Natives fished these rivers and newcomers from across an ocean saw this place as a strange and new home.  This same ground and this same air with the ancestors of these same squirrels and oak trees and deer have been the setting for many others.  In all likelihood there will be others ahead of us who will inhabit this land as well.  This land is our way station on the path to eternity, as it has been for many others.  I was struck by the thought that the land has endured the lives and struggles of countless people and the people go, while the land remains.  Surely, as great and enduring as the land is, we are grander despite our temporary time here.  After all, the land will remain while we arc our way heavenward someday!   Psalm 116:9 I will walk before the LORD In the land of the living   blessings, Rob Smith