I love the movie “Polar Express.” It is one of my favorite modern day holiday movies.

Of course, there is nothing that can take the place of the Christmas Story, but for the purposes of this blog I will not be reflecting on how not to “shoot your eye out.” Although being the mom of a young hunter who has amassed quite an arsenal of weaponry, I am intimately aware of the profound wisdom of that statement.

At any rate, back to Polar Express .. .One of my favorite scenes is when the Conductor makes his way through the train and punches words in each child’s ticket that suits their unique personality and needs: The girl’s says “lead”; the know-it-all says “learn”; and the lonely boy’s says “Count On, Lean On, Depend On”… and finally the main character, the young boy’s says “Believe.”

During both trips to Europe this year I had the opportunity to travel by train on numerous occasions. For a southern girl from Eastern North Carolina, it was a very different experience. We don’t travel by train very often. However, I do remember taking Amtrak from Sharpsburg to Rocky Mount once. It seemed like it took about thirty seconds. 

One of my favorite parts of the train ride was the conductor coming by to punch our ticket. I remember thinking about Polar Express and wondering what might be “punched” in my ticket. Sadly, it was a simple circular punch … nothing more … no hidden wisdom. Just a punch. I tried to pretend that it was more … maybe the simple circle represented a donut. Perhaps my special message was to eat more donuts! Could it be? LOL! I know, that’s stretching it a bit. But I try to look for signs pointing me to “Krispy Kreme” in everything.

I thought about the boy’s ticket being punched with the word “BELIEVE.” It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Around this time of year we see that word on just about everything from Christmas cards to wrapping paper to yes, even spelled out in lights above Macy’s department store in NYC. “BELIEVE”—it is the simple message of Christmas.

Throughout this Christmas season, my prayer is that our belief will be strengthened and that we will find renewed faith in our Savior. For those who are without Christ this Christmas, I pray that they will come to BELIEVE in the Christ. The very simple, but all important, reason for the season. I pray that they will come to understand that sometimes seeing is believing and sometimes the most real things in the world cannot be seen.