Thomas the Tank Engine Needs Therapy

This is Asher giving Thomas encouragement. Thomas needed it.

On Saturday Carrie and I took Asher to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Asher loves Thomas and all of the trains. They are his favorite toys. His big brother Jackson sets up tracks for him and Asher plays and plays on them and then destroys them like a hurricane and being a good big brother Jackson builds another one.

So we are watching this play and I am listening to Thomas talk about the dreams and desires he has for his life and I realize that this guy needs therapy. Here is what I picked up in an hour and a half of watching Thomas in action that causes me concern for this dearly loved character.

Before I share this let me say that I love Thomas. We will continue to watch Thomas in our home. The toys are great and I am thankful for them. I write this only to share my concerns about some of the flaws in our society and to point out things to avoid.

The first thing that concerns me is that he is defined by what he does rather than who he is. Thomas never stops talking about wanting to be a "really useful engine." And when he's not really useful, he gets depressed. This means that if Thomas ever gets sick or in a slump that he will believe that he no longer has value.

Thomas doesn't want to just be busy. Thomas wants to be "useful." That is a subjective term. That means that Thomas is going to be defined according to someone's standard. This leaves his emotional state in flux. He will be defined by his job evaluation.

That gives other people a lot of power over Thomas, which creates even more emotional chaos for the little engine. It gives a lot of power to his boss Sir Topham Hat. This little round mound of obsessive compulsiveness brow beat Thomas the entire show.

What was sad is that Thomas worked hard. The reason he got in trouble in the first place was to help another slacker train that missed work to get a paint job. And in helping that guy Thomas missed a delivery. Sir Topham Hat blamed the world’s problems on that missed delivery. But Thomas didn't give up. He wanted to please so he worked even harder and actually hurt himself.

Being a people pleaser and a guy defined by his job, Thomas worked so hard that he ended up doing more than his frame could take and he injured himself. That set Topham Hat off again and Thomas lower and lower.

In the end it all worked out, but I think Thomas needs counseling. And he’s not alone. A lot of us define ourselves by what we can do, how we look, how our kids perform, or a host of other things that give other people’s opinions too much power and our emotional state too much flux.

Jesus said we are loved by Him. God says we are worth dying for. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and with us. We have value because we are made in the image of God, are loved by God, are filled with God (if we are redeemed by the grace of Jesus), and are in God’s family.

Don’t be like Thomas. You’ll go crazy.