THE POLAR EXPRESS WITH JASON CLARK
“It’s Christmas Eve, and instead of dreaming of the best day of the year, the boy is in his bedroom agonizing over the universal question: Does God…sorry, I mean Santa Claus, really exist?”
In this final podcast of 2022 and season three, Jason shares a story from his first book about the Polar Express, and faith. Whether you’re tired or wide awake, full or empty, lost or found, sick or whole, you are loved by Triune God who walks beside you, will never leave you, and invites you to awaken to His affection and love. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and goodwill toward men!”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly
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Kindness
When Karen and I have done pre-marriage counseling, we talk about a lot of things, communication, kids, sex, but there is always one theme, one foundational focus, one earnest word of advice, one hope for the couple, that they would practice and know kindness.
In 26 years of marriage, we’ve discovered that kindness is the key to everything. It unlocks every good thing, encourages every future hope, heals every past pain, disarms anger, dismantles distrust, softens a hard heart; kindness believes and empowers and reveals all that is beautiful and lovely.
Just so, unkindness will destroy a marriage, a family, a friendship, a generation… unkindness works like yeast in the dough, it infiltrates every aspect of our lives. It’s a poison with only one remedy, repent…
And unkindness can be subtle, like a sigh, or body language, or how I speak to the dog. Yeah, I know it well, I’ve been unkind more than I like to admit. But thank God for the remedy; I can repent! I can ask forgiveness, I can be transformed…
And I do repent, “Father, I repent today. I thank you for your kindness, I ask that you would permeate my heart with the kindness you have for me, for my loved ones, for all those I meet today, all I come across on social media. I want to be an expression of Your kindness to me. I receive, I give, I repent, wholeheartedly. I change my mind and align my will with my reconciled heart. I will not let unkindness make a home in me. Amen.”
I have learned that any hope of an authentic and beautiful life is lost through the justification of unkindness.
And I have also learned that the opposite is true, everything can be made whole through kindness.
“Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4)
It’s kindness that changes our minds and there is none kinder than our beautiful friend and savior, Jesus.
It is His kindness that opens us to new thoughts, that empowers us to visit our bias, reimagine our world through hope, confront our fearful hearts with perfect love. It’s His kindness that overcomes our violent defenses and settles our deepest insecurities.
It’s His kindness that exposes our arrogance and hypocrisy, that knocks us off our high horses; the same kindness that knocked Paul on his ass exposing his elite violent unkindness toward God’s beloved.
And it’s His kindness that enlightens our ignorance and challenges broken ideology, and oppressive theology, that gently reveals resurrection life; the same kindness shown on a road to Emmaus when God hid Himself so His beloved could discover union.
It’s the kindness of a friend who gave Himself up to our violent delusions, experiencing death on behalf of our ignorance and hate; not once holding it against us.
It’s kindness that empowers repentance. And we are transformed when we respond to this kindness.
Do not be conformed to this (unkind) world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (See Rom 12:2)
It’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance, to changing or renewing our mind; and this is when we are transformed.
If kindness isn’t the foundation of a thought, if it is not the soil a belief system grows in, then there is no repentance and we can’t experience transformation. And without transformation, there is no way to live an authentic and whole life.
How does a person step away from shame and condemnation if every thought they have toward themselves is unkind? They can’t.
How does a person experience trust or hope of union if every thought they have toward those they disagree with is unkind? They can’t.
It’s why kindness is Karen and my foundational advice to couples who desire to experience the dream of union as a reality. Oneness is impossible without it.
It’s Christmas, the season of giving and receiving, a season that celebrates hope; the birth of Kindness displayed in flesh and blood.
We pray you would know kindness today in every way; that you would know you are His beloved and also His expression.
Merry Christmas
Jason and Karen
Some of this article is excerpted from my forthcoming book, Leaving (& Finding) Jesus
CLICK HERE to Pre-Order
God And The Polar Express
I was sitting in the theatre beside a 3-year-old boy named Ethan Wilde.
Ethan’s my son. We were about to watch “The Polar Express.” I was a little distracted because we just moved to North Carolina. We were pretty sure God had asked us to. Pretty sure. We had spent our savings and were now digging into our “good credit.” We were beyond strapped and spending eight bucks for the afternoon matinee caused that voice in my head to say: Are you crazy?
A 30-year-old man with a wife and two kids isn’t usually 100% certain of much, but I was about 97% sure I was to spend all my time and resources birthing a ministry, which I would later find out was a lifestyle. God had told me to believe, to stay the course. But as the money flew out of our bank account, I was more than worried. I was scared.
Dave Ramsey’s evaluation would have been: Uh, financial suicide. Now I know Dave Ramsey has saved many people from financial ruin. But this was between me and another Savior; it had nothing to do with financial responsibility. This was about irresponsible, unsound, downright foolish obedience. I’ll come back to this a little later…
Back to The Polar Express. If you haven’t seen it, try to; it’s wonderful. It’s about a young boy who, while growing up, loses his ability to believe in God…I mean Santa Claus. Fortunately, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Father… I mean three variations of Tom Hanks, band together to guide the boy back into believing. I realize that sounds confusing, but stick with me.
It’s Christmas Eve and instead of dreaming of the best day of the year, the boy is in his bedroom agonizing over the universal question: Does God—sorry, I mean Santa Clause—really exist? He used to believe, but now in the mind of this blossoming adult, a fat bearded jolly man delivering presents to the entire world’s population in one night seems impossible. Add in flying reindeer, elves, a North Pole toy factory—it all seems completely foolish. The boy was in danger of becoming a realist.
And then a deep rumbling. It grew louder until it filled his room and even jumped out into our theatre seats. Like an earthquake, it shook and rattled his shelf of sports trophies. The boy crawls over to his window, peers out and what to his wondering eyes should appear? An enormous train decked in his front yard.
Dressed in his pajamas and rubber rain boots, he cautiously walks out to the train and meets Jesus… I’m sorry, I mean a train conductor played by Tom Hanks. The conductor says, “Well…are you coming?” That’s a question worth remembering.
This amazes the boy. He really wants to get on the train, but at the same time, the idea terrifies him. Finally, as the train begins to inch forward, his heart wins out and he takes the outstretched hand of the conductor.
And so the journey begins, a grand adventure filled with mountaintops and frozen lakes and howling wolves and dancing waiters balancing hot chocolate on trays. It’s exciting and dangerous all at the same time. Along the way the boy meets the Holy Spirit… I’m sorry, I mean a ghost who oddly resembles Tom Hanks.
After several breathtaking moments, the train reaches its destination—the North Pole. There are elves everywhere and music, dancing and singing. It is truly a magical place. I’d like to go there some day.
Everyone is awaiting Santa’s arrival, which signals the official start of Christmas. The Elves are singing Christmas songs. Some are whispering “Is He here?” and some are yelling, “Do you see Him?” The anticipation is almost unbearable.
The reindeer harnessed to Santa’s sleigh are going wild! Their master is coming! They can sense it! The sleigh bells are ringing and all who believe in Santa can hear them, their pristine crystal tones adding to the beautiful chaotic anticipation. The children that made the journey are there too. The air is electric.
And then there is the boy. He had all but decided that Santa was not real and yet wants—with his whole heart—to be wrong. Surrounded by a sea of believers, the boy dares to hope; in fact, hope is everywhere, and it’s contagious.
A slow hush falls on the crowd, and all eyes became focused on a building at the end of the square. The doors burst open. There is a bright light, and within the doorframe, a silhouette.
Suddenly the whole square erupts. “There He is!” shouts an elf. “I see Him!” says one of the girls, but the boy, pressed by the crowd, can’t see and still can’t hear the sleigh bells. Why can’t he hear? Desperate, he jumps and presses his way through the sea of elves to the front. And then, there He is, Father God… I’m sorry, I mean Santa Claus, who is also played by Tom Hanks.
Suddenly the boy hears everything: the bells, the worshipping elves, the celebrating kids, the dancing reindeer. And I’m sitting beside my son, and I’m trying desperately to hide my face from the little girl next to me. Why? Cause I’m balling my eyes out and whispering, I believe, I believe, I believe… I love you Lord, and I believe…
“I’m convinced that the ‘God lived life’ is one of learning how to believe. It’s learning how to cling to God and keep His promises alive in your heart.”
I’ve been given a promise from God. But sometimes holding on to it can be rather difficult. Life moves along, things happen; the world is a very busy and noisy place. It’s easy to wake up one day and find you’re just not sure anymore, believing has become a lost art and the promise has become a mountain that seems un-scale-able. In fact, it has often seemed the harder I try to summit, the farther the peak is from me. But I’m convinced that the “God lived life” is one of learning how to believe. It’s learning how to cling to God and keep His promises alive in your heart.
In the movie, it took the conductor, the ghost, and Santa working together to woo the child. One man played all three characters, a trinity working in unison, until ultimately the boy made the decision to believe. The boy’s heart had wanted to believe from the very start. And that desire was enough to push him into the perilous journey.
The little boy in The Polar Express, the one who stopped believing? I identify with him. Yeah, that was me, my story.
I chased the promise for so long, I lost sight of the Promise Giver. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped believing. I became exhausted, unmotivated and unsure where once I had been positive.
Life became random and dull. In one sense I still did what I thought God had created me to do but it no longer held meaning. I started filtering every experience through an attitude of hopelessness until every bump in the road was expected, while every triumph was fleeting. The fact was, I had begun living a life where the glass was neither half-full nor half empty. It was just… half.
“Believing that God is good, that He is faithful, that He can be trusted, it’s really the only way to continue moving forward in my own story. It’s also the only way to experience fullness of life, immense joy and fulfillment.”
But years ago, because of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s faithful love and great wooing, I made a decision that I am going to be a believer, whether it looks good or not, whether it feels good or not. I continue to say yes. to the perilous, life-giving journey.
Now I’m putting all my money on the promise giver and following Him where He leads me, like moving my family to North Carolina and financially disappointing Dave Ramsey. Believing that God is good, that He is faithful, that He can be trusted, it’s really the only way to continue moving forward in my own story. It’s also the only way to experience the fullness of life, immense joy and fulfillment.
Is it possible that God is asking you the same question the conductor asked the boy: Well…are you coming?