A Journey Of Faith

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2004)

Several years ago on Christmas Eve, I was feeling sorry for myself being single and lonely. After attending church, I waited for a bus home in the cold snowy gloom, fearful about the safety of a past midnight commute. Suddenly a brightly lit bus pulled over with no person present but the driver. Opening the door, he cheerfully bellowed out Merry Christmas and asked me to jump on board. The musical theme from The Twilight Zone played in my head as I entered the warm light.
My driver talked about himself being single and lonely, and how he had been saved by Jesus. His married co-workers did not want a Christmas route, so he gladly accepted this run as a way to share the holiday spirit by buoying mine. Although deeply engaged in expressing his thoughts, he drove expertly with care. I remained the one and only passenger. We approached my stop across the street where I live. Not yet finished with his testimony, he parked the vehicle for several minutes. Shaking hands, I alighted. The driver waved as he pulled the bus away. I stared at it fading into the dark distance.
That night was my ride on The Polar Express.
Thanks to the new movie with the same name, I've been able to relive my journey of faith through the eyes of other witnesses. Presented in a choice of 3D or 2D or Digital, enthralling animation virtually places you on the set, the film opening with an older man narrating his experience as a youngster on Christmas Eve in 1955. His name is never given as he represents any one of us viewers. He lies awake afraid he won't hear the sound he awaits: the sleigh bells belonging to Santa Claus. He's of that age when he's beginning to realize that Santa might just be an illusion, and he desperately needs proof of something out there beyond ordinary existence, something wonderful and inspiring. The Polar Express then arrives, the conductor announcing it will transport him to the North Pole. It struck me that it would take a humongous leap of faith for a child to board this very strange train.
There's a tendency to blame modern science for the abrogation of faith. The beautiful sunrise you admire and give thanks for is said to be nothing more than gases and photons resulting from a random Big Bang. Yet questioning faith is ancient and is illustrated in the Bible itself. The story of doubting Thomas tells us he believed in the resurrection of Jesus only upon touching the mark of the nails in His hands. Paradoxically, we are asked to accept this account as Gospel when we ourselves have no hands to examine.
As the train begins leaving, the lad climbs aboard. Clearly his own decision, he realizes under the surreal circumstances normal rules of logic don't apply. He joins other interesting characters, including a know-it-all kid, a sweet girl, and a protective hobo whose personality is a bit like my bus driver. Most haunting is the lonely boy from the wrong side of the tracks who you sense has been physically abused.
The passengers endure trial and tribulation helping each other grow in understanding themselves and getting to their destination. The scene of the lost ticket flying through the air is profound. How that ticket winds up back on the train mirrors the miracles of real life. Skeptics can explain away the phenomenon, but like the sunrise, is it simply an accident, or is an unseen hand at work? The vast Ice Lake resembles a frozen Sea of Galilee and as in the Biblical reckoning, the faith of those on board gets them to the other side without drowning. Only our youngster remains unsure. It's all a dream, isn't it? His struggles to believe will tear at your soul.
When the train finally reaches the North Pole, I grew anxious about Santa's forthcoming appearance. How could he possibly meet expectations? By comparison, Ben-Hur is the sole movie about Jesus I appreciate because His face is never shown. I think it's too difficult for human actors to portray a person who is also divine or otherwise supernatural. But the superb animation process of The Polar Express enhances actors' features, rendering the encounter of the boy with Santa so provocatively authentic that Santa has to remind us he's only a symbol of Christmas, the real Spirit being in the heart.
Our hero returns home, the train departing without a trace. Was his adventure real or a dream? Viewers differ on the interpretation of the clues offered. Cynics argue it doesn't matter for either way the whole thing is a fairy tale. Well, reconsider the paradox of doubting Thomas. At the end of the day, even he was alone holding only memories of the hands he touched. Had he merely imagined the event? As with the train ticket or my bus driver, you hang onto the mystery of what happened, believing when others doubt. You may even believe the story of Thomas.
I recall the words of the eminent author Ayn Rand, "When people look back at their childhood or youth, their wistfulness comes from the memory, not of what their lives had been in those years, but of what life had then promised to be. The expectation of some undefinable splendor, of the unusual, the exciting, the great, is an attribute of youth - and the process of aging is the process of that expectation's gradual extinction."
Do yourself a favor. Step aboard The Polar Express. You'll travel back when you were young and innocent, revisiting the hopes and dreams you have since abandoned. The intensity of your restored faith may prove overwhelming and you may weep as other grownups in theaters have. The movie posters truthfully advertise, "This holiday season... believe".