I think I can now explain why I had the Thomas theme tune stuck in my head earlier this week of course it is equally possible that all of this is just an attempt to extract some meaning from the randomness that is my thought process.
So in my last post I was unable to make a link between Viva la Vida, Be thou my vision and Thomas the Tank engine. The first two were fairly easy and I came to the conclusion that it was about living in such a way as to not be always chasing after success as measured by wealth, power and status. Of course I still couldn't understand why the Thomas theme was included in my mental playlist. So naturally it became a minor hyper focus.
I used to enjoy watching and reading Thomas the Tank engine, the stories were pretty entertaining and of course I also had a couple of the models for my Hornby railway set.
Looking back it is quite easy to see a strong thread moralising in each of the stories. My brain has fitted Thomas in with my earlier thoughts by focusing on the idea that success is not measured by wealth or power, but is instead about fulfilling your calling or vocation to the best of your ability. Not in itself a bad thought. However, the stories often take a far darker turn.
Many stories revolve around the engines learning to be content with their specific roles on the Island of Sodor. For example, Thomas initially wants to pull coaches like the bigger engines but learns the importance of his own job as a shunter and later as a branch line engine. This echoes the idea that everyone has a unique role to play, and fulfillment comes from embracing that role rather than envying others.
The dystopian elements come in when you consider what happens to engines ( and other characters) who do not simply accept their role or who worry about their appearance or status.
One engine who is considered a showoff is punished by being turned into a static generator, in another the leader of a "gang" of trucks is pulled in two until he snaps.
In another Henry is bricked up in a tunnel when he gets worried about the rain ruining his paintwork.
Every engine in Thomas aspires to be a "really useful engine". But the consequences for not conforming or not being "really useful" are often extreme and there is a constant threat that engines who are not useful will be cut up for scrap. While there is forgiveness for some engines it evidently does not extend to all. There is no gentle retirement in a museum or on a heritage railway. When you are no longer useful you are disposed of.
It is of course possible I'm overthinking this. However, the world of Thomas and friends seems to be very much one in which a person's entire value is based on "being useful" and simply accepting your place in society.
How do you take joy in life when you are constantly threatened with being thrown in the scrapyard? It is certainly not a world I would wish to be part of. It is also not the world suggested by my internal playlist, which seemed to suggest a world where each person is valued for who they are rather than for what they do or how productive they are. This is the world I find described in scripture, where we work not out of fear but instead from a place of hope and joy.
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