Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)
For everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven:
The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails)
is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
Why such an odd number? Because that's the way they built
them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.
Why did the English adopt that particular gauge? Because
the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.
They in turn were locked into that gauge because the
people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for
building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half
inches.
"Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with
any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.
"So who built these old rutted roads?
"The first long-distance highways in Europe were
built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in
use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet,
eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses."
Maybe "that's the way it's always been" isn't
the great excuse some people believe it to be.
Sometime we need to make a change in our life. As our
verse tells us there is a season for everything, even change.
Dear Lord, give us wisdom to know when it’s time to change
things in our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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