{"id":2239,"date":"2022-12-22T07:33:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T12:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2022-12-22T07:33:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T12:33:42","slug":"the-polar-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/22\/the-polar-express\/","title":{"rendered":"The Polar Express"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being.<\/em>

\u201cSeeing is believing.\u00a0 But sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can\u2019t see.\u201d

Those words, spoken by the conductor of a train that travels exclusively to the North Pole and back on Christmas Eve, echo the core message of a unique film.

This computer-animated movie brought together a pair of Hollywood heavyweights for their third collaboration.\u00a0 Actor Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis had previously struck gold with Forrest Gump<\/em> and Cast Away<\/em>. \u00a0In 2004 they teamed up to create a film adaptation of The Polar Express<\/em>, Chris Van Allsburg\u2019s beloved 1985 children\u2019s book.

The story centers around a young boy who is gradually losing faith in the reality of Santa Claus.\u00a0 On Christmas Eve he is startled to see an old-fashioned locomotive and vintage passenger cars stop alongside his Grand Rapids, Michigan house.\u00a0 He is invited to step aboard and experience a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.\u00a0 He and a few other children will travel at an impossibly high speed to visit Santa\u2019s workshop at the top of the world.

Along the way they will see amazing sights, receive life lessons from the wise conductor, and find out for themselves that the classic stories they\u2019ve been told are all true.

From time to time they will also defy the laws of physics:\u00a0 The Polar Express – Entering Glacier Gulch and Frozen Lake – YouTube<\/a>

Hanks and Zemeckis originally imagined a life-action picture.\u00a0 But it quickly became clear that the only way to preserve the unique feel of Van Allsburg\u2019s book was to opt for animation.

It was a special kind of animation at that.\u00a0 Live actors were filmed by means of motion-capture technology, then transformed by computers into animated figures.\u00a0 This was a Hollywood first, and the growing pains are obvious when compared to the seamless beauty of more recent motion-capture films. \u00a0Nevertheless, many viewers love the look of The Polar Express<\/em> because it approximates the artwork in the book.

Critic Roger Ebert liked what he saw.\u00a0 \u201cThere’s a deeper, shivery tone, instead of the mindless jolliness of the usual Christmas movie\u2026 It has a haunting, magical quality.\u201d

The movie did not do blockbuster business at the box office.\u00a0 But it has gradually achieved a kind of cult status, joining a handful of other films that certain people simply have to see or it won\u2019t be Christmas.\u00a0 A number of communities have created their own real-life versions of the Polar Express, inviting children and their parents to ride for a few miles after dusk on an actual train \u2013 with Santa strolling up and down the aisles, of course.

Towards the end of the film, the conductor (played by Hanks) offers what is intended to be deep wisdom: \u201cOne thing about trains: It doesn\u2019t matter where they\u2019re going.\u00a0 What matters is deciding to get on.\u201d

Concerning that particular statement, followers of Jesus need to push back.\u00a0 \u00a0

Post-modern culture has popularized the notion that \u201cthe journey\u201d is all that matters.\u00a0 Since there is no fixed meaning or purpose to life, any destination is as good as any other.\u00a0 If there\u2019s no such thing as Truth with a capital T, you can hop on any train going in any direction.\u00a0 The meaning of my life comes down to pursuing \u201cmy truth,\u201d which has a lower-case T.\u00a0 That means my journey is no better than yours, nor is yours superior to mine.\u00a0 \u00a0

But it does matter where the train is going.\u00a0 With deepest respect and sorrow, we must acknowledge that those who were crowded into the trains of the Third Reich during the 1940s were not heading towards a neutral destination.

If we imagine our culture as a train terminal, there are tracks heading off in a multitude of directions.

One conductor is shouting, \u201cCome this way if you want to experience Enlightenment.\u201d\u00a0 Another beckons, \u201cThis train will take you to the fulfillment of your deepest cravings.\u201d\u00a0 Still another shouts, \u201cAll aboard for those who want to get rich and say goodbye to insecurity.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0

The options are dizzying.\u00a0 \u201cJust believing\u201d in one of them doesn\u2019t make it wise or safe or true.\u00a0 Belief is a good thing \u2013 but only if it is invested in something worthy of being believed.

Jesus is never more counter-cultural than in John 14:6: \u201cI am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.\u00a0 No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d\u00a0 Not only does he claim that there really is a Right Destination, and Truth with a capital T.\u00a0 He himself is the one-and-only \u201ctrain\u201d we board to experience real and lasting Life.\u00a0 \u00a0

So, by all means, believe.

But believe in the Story that will take you places where no magical locomotive can ever go.

Believe in the Child of Bethlehem.\u00a0<\/em>

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being. \u201cSeeing is believing.\u00a0 But sometimes the most real things in… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[464,539],"class_list":["post-2239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-belief","tag-christmas-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2241,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239\/revisions\/2241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}