Stop This Train

I was introduced to John Mayer in 2007 by my son. Mayer had just recently released the Continuum album and the lyrics on “Stop This Train” moved me. I was intrigued by how relatable they were. He sings about him being “scared of growing old” and wanting to “get off (the train) and go home again.” 

Mayer uses the train in the song as a metaphor for the rush of life that continues to move us forward and his fear of getting older and all that entails: losing his parents, an unfamiliar future and ultimately his own death. He wants the pace of life to slow down.

Don’t know how else to say it

Don’t wanna see my parents go

I’m one generation’s length away

From fighting life out on my own

Oh, come on, stop this train

John has a moment in the song where he goes to his father for advice and his dad gives him some wisdom on how you look at life differently as you get older. He warns John not to waste the place he’s in and to savor the experiences. 

Don’t for a minute change the place you’re in

And don’t think I couldn’t understand

I tried my hand

John, honestly, we’ll never stop this train

Throughout the song, John begs for the train to slow down. The lyrics communicate that he feels like he is losing control and he’s wrestling with not being able to stop aging nor the pain that this life can bring us. He wants to get off and “go back home again.” Going back “home” is not necessarily a physical home, but a picture of a place in time where he experienced comfort and peace, a time when he didn’t worry and a time where he could (seemingly) control things that now seem out of his control. 

By the end of the song, it feels like John has talked it through enough and finally realizes that there is nothing he can do to slow down the speed of life and that the control he thought he had, isn’t really real after all.

The Bible emphasizes to us the fleeting nature of our lives compared to eternity. James 4:14 says that life is “a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.” To truly grasp what is being communicated though, context is key. In the surrounding verses James warns his readers against having confidence in themselves and their own plans, and taking for granted what a gift each day is. The danger isn’t looking foolish. The danger is being a fool: not considering looking to God and what His plans for them, for us, should be. 

While we are young, our time on earth feels like an eternity when the reality is, each day is a vapor. James warns his readers against making plans each day without ever considering what our eternity will actually look like. If we would look at each day of our life as fleeting, we might understand the truly important thing in our life isn’t trying to stay young and chase success, rather we could be making an eternal impact by living each day for Christ. 

The Bible tells us that we should live our days being prepared for the return of Christ (2 Timothy 4:2) and to “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2). As I’ve meditated on these passages, I’m grateful for God’s gentle conviction for some things in my life that I put value in that aren’t eternal. And almost as quickly as that conviction comes, so does God’s grace and forgiveness in my life. 

My encouragement for anybody reading this would be for you to receive and live each day like it is a gift from God. Because it is. When I receive an unexpected gift I have feelings of joy, I feel gratitude for the person that thought of me, and I can’t wait to express that joy and gratitude to them for that special and unexpected gift. And I want to bring others in on that joy. This is life. Eternal life. 

That’s a train you want to stay on.