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Thomas the Tank Engine has the goods on us. Here is the plot of Good Morning Engines, which I read to my granddaughter.
Thomas and Percy are trying to catch a few winks in the engine shed, but James in the adjacent berth is boasting on and on about a special early morning run he’s been assigned to—taking people to town for a royal parade.
Morning comes and Thomas is up promptly to transport passengers on his branch line to the junction where James is to pick them up and take them to town. But when Thomas arrives at the station, James is not there! He had stayed up so late bragging that he has overslept.
“‘Oh no!’ says Thomas. He waits and waits but sees no sign of James. … Thinking fast, Thomas calls over to Percy. … ‘If you make half of James’ stops, and I make the other half. …’”
James is an obnoxious vehicle who has lorded his privileges over Thomas and Percy. And now, by his own sin, he has put himself in the position of being disgraced. There is not a person in a thousand who will not sit on the sidelines and privately gloat at his misfortune.
But the author of Good Morning Engines—whether he be Christian or no—knows instinctively that that is not the right way, not the beautiful way. Though he himself may never in his life have risen to the virtue of Thomas, he recognizes it as virtue. He yearns to be treated the way Thomas and Percy treated James, when he himself should be caught in a sin. He yearns to be a man like Thomas and Percy.
“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts” (Romans
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Soul searching
As I read this, “Thomas the Tank Engine” is playing on the DVD. I appreciate how there is no gloating and scorn, but forgiveness followed up by reconciliation and genuine helpfulness and cheerfulness in each story. My little guys often quote Thomas and Percy in their daily interactions with each other.
I once read Thomas Train Tales to my grandchildren and was, like Andree, impressed with the decency of Thomas, though I didn’t have the wit to see the connection to the law written on our hearts.
Was Thomas and Percy cross at James? Surely Mr Tophat was!
I like the story of the little choo choo that could chug over the mountain. Any other train story for children is wimpy by comparison.
Thomas the Tank Engine (sounds pretty militaristic to me) is too perfectly PC for a military man and normal kids for that matter. Kids and military commanders would want to see James spanked by his engineer or drill Sargent, like they would be spanked by their parents if they acted that way - and had any parents who were normal, paying attention and cared about their them and how they acted out
Kids need to know that if they are willing and do, do, do again and again they will be the engine that succeeds at anything - the one that could - when no one but them thought they would.
By the way, if they come out later and say Thomas was really a gay tank engine created by a pedophile who retired from the military by being able to don’t ask - don’t tell, like Dumbledore ended up being gay, normal kids will never want to read about any trains, even the ones that could, ever again