Faith Aboard the Polar Express

Posted by Christian St John in Faithblogs | 2 comments

Last evening I sat with the family and watched the movie The Polar Express. I have to say I greatly enjoyed this wonderful movie. If you have seen it you will know that the movie is filled with Christmas magic, if not then grab a copy and enjoy. Full of child-like wonder, The Polar Express is a journey through doubt into faith. Many reviewers have said things like the movie glorifies Santa, that it blatantly leaves out any mention of Jesus, and turns Christmas into Clausmas; it’s a shame that they missed the many spiritual analogies to be found in this movie.

To begin I want to say that from a Christian parent POV I found nothing, absolutely nothing objectionable in this movie, which is rare for a Hollywood movie. This gets the movie two thumbs up from me.

The animation is superb and will wow young and old alike, and the story, although simple, is sweet and endearing making this a movie that can easily find it’s way onto many a family’s Christmas must-see movie list. I have seen the movie before, but at the time I was studying for my Master’s (lot’s of paper’s. exams, etc.), hence I fell asleep. However, this time as I watched I noticed that there are some deep spiritual messages and meanings in the movie, most which, it seems, have eluded many a viewer.

The bottom line of the movie is it’s all about believing and having faith. Okay, on the surface it’s about believing in Santa, but hear me out. As the movie played out I began to see in the movie a metaphor for the journey to the Christian life and having faith despite what you see. As the conductor of The Polar Express tells the main little boy, “Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things are those you can’t see.” Hebrews 11:1 anyone?

There is also a reoccurring metaphor throughout for the Trinity of the Christian faith – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How, you may ask? Well I saw it like this…

The Conductor is a Christ-like figure, the one who comes to the children and offers them a chance to see for themselves the very thing they are beginning to doubt… Santa. Throughout the story the Conductor is their companion on the journey from the reality of their doubts to a life of faith. He shares in their joys, fears, and knows exactly what they are going through, because he himself is going through it. He is also the one who tells the children again and again that it is by faith that we can truly see.

The ghostly Hobo who sits atop the train drinking hot Joe represents the Holy Spirit in that he guides the child giving him insight, answering his questions, and helping him along the journey to make the right decisions. He also acts to save the child more than once when he faces danger.

And Santa is the one who rewards the faith of the children; he rewards the new found faith of the main boy by giving him the gift of a bell, the ring of which is only heard by those who believe. I know I’ll probably get flack for this, but the Santa of The Polar Express reminded me of our Father in Heaven.

So when we break it down we get: The Conductor as the Christ-like figure who takes them to Santa (I.E. The Father), The Hobo as the Holy Spirit-like figure who helps in times of need, and Santa as the Father-like figure who rewards faith in Him. The fact that the same actor, Tom Hanks, played all three parts made the parallels even more so.

Another spiritual lesson comes at the tail end of the movie: The movie ends with the main boy character talking as an adult about how all those around him grew up, eventually stopped hearing the ring of the bell Santa gave him and gave up believing, yet he still believed and heard the ringing of the bell. This spoke to me about the faith of a child and how important, I repeat IMPORTANT it is to instill upon our young ones the value of Christmas and what it’s truly about – faith in God. If we work to helping them believe in God at a young age then hopefully they will ever hear the ringing bell (God’s still small voice) and their faith in Him will be something that will remain with them for life.

Maybe it’s just me, and whether the producers intended any of this, only they, and God, know, but I couldn’t help but see the above as illustrations of the Christian faith. The Polar Express has many other things (lessons) I could write about such as humility, self sacrifice, and love, but I’ll leave them for you to discover in this gem of a movie; a must-see for all the family.

Yours for Him and in Him!

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
December, 2009