There are some sounds that you just never get used
to...finger nails on a chalk board, the drill at the dentists office, and a penske
moving truck driving away with your loved ones in it (in the front seat of
course, having them ride in the trailer is looked down upon in some parts of
the world) :)
Last weekend my niece and nephews stayed with us before their
family moved. On Friday night my brother read their chosen bed time story, The
Polar Express. Saturday the children and I put together a gingerbread Christmas
tree that I got 75% off after Christmas! And then Sunday we watched The Polar
Express. It was quite the Christmas weekend! I have watched that movie so many
times but this time I thought about it more and realized how easily relatable
this story is to our lives.
In the beginning the little boy is skeptical about believing
in Santa Clause. There is a big part of him that wants to believe but he really
just wants to see to make sure. When the Polar Express Train stops in front of
his house he has the opportunity to choose if he wants to get on. Just like we
have the opportunity if we want to believe in Jesus Christ and follow His
example in our daily lives. He knows the train is going to the North Pole to
see Santa but he is still a bit hesitant. We know the Gospel of Jesus Christ
leads us to happiness but maybe we also can become hesitant when we are not
obedient to His commandments. This could be because they are too hard, they require too much
time or simply because we don’t want to. But thankfully there is the train
conductor (Good influences, ex: the Holy Ghost, friends and family) there to
reach out and help us decide if we want to get on or not.
Once on the train we see others who share similar goals.
Everyone is at a different level of learning but we are all there for the same
purpose. To hop on the train of life and learn what we need to, to be able to
return to live with our Father in Heaven again. We each have tickets, and as
the conductor reminds the boy, they are not transferable! I think the tickets
in the movie relate to our personal blueprints in our lives. In the movie the
conductor punches out a letter or two from the ticket. The children speculate
at what they must mean, and they are individualized for each of them. Like in our lives we all have a ticket that
we get punched once in a while. When we go through experiences and learn from
them we get more holes punched in our ticket, giving us a greater glimpse of our
purpose here. The more holes we get punched the greater the clues are and
finding out what the ticket will read in the end. We can't know what the ticket will say in the beginning, that would be like knowing the end of the story without living it, and where is the fun in that!?
I love how
in the movie you are introduced right away to these children’s strengths and
weaknesses and throughout the movie their strengths are used to help others and
their weaknesses worked on to become strengths. It is also important to note
that these weaknesses are not worked on alone. The children help each other
throughout the movie and as they help each other through their weaknesses,
their own weaknesses become strengths. It is not always easy helping others
stay on the train…the little boy goes through some really tough obstacles as he
tries to return the little girls ticket to her. But during that time of trying
to find her, he goes through experiences that help shape his character and help
him more fully believe in the things he is searching for. Just like in our
lives there are scary moments when you aren’t sure how you are going to make
it…many times they come really close to falling off of the train but every time
there is always something to grab on to, or someone to grab on to them, to keep
them on the train.There is always help.
And for a
final thought, there are just too many things to write about! It would be way to long to write it all! Anywho...at the end, it is Christmas Eve, Santa makes his way to the middle of the town
square where the bag of presents and his sleigh are waiting for him to make his
deliveries. At first the little boy can’t hear the bells as Santa is walking
into the area. He gets worried and wants to hear them. He picks up a bell that had just fallen off the sleigh and begins to tell himself over
and over that he believes until he finally does and is then able to hear the
bell. For me the bells might represent the Holy Ghost. It testifies of Christ
and His atonement. The Holy Ghost helps you to know that Jesus Christ and
Heavenly Father are real! That They love you and want you to stay on the train
and keep believing and working so you can return to live with Them and all
those you love, again.
At the end the narrator (the little boy) says, “At one time
most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for
all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its
sweet sound. Though I've grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for
all who truly believe.”
We have to constantly live our lives in such a way that we
always hear the bell, or hear the quiet whisperings of the Holy Ghost. We want
the Holy Ghost with us because he reminds us of our purpose here on earth and
the importance of our lives and our great individual worth to our Savior and
our Heavenly Father.
There are so many more things that can be learned from this movie but I will leave that up to you all to figure out if you want. :)
It’s amazing all you can learn from a great children’s
movie!
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