Model Train

One Christmas, I gave my five-year-old son a toy train set. My father was a railroad engineer, and I always had a fascination with trains. Over the years, my father gave my son and I several real train rides; the two f us were always captivated by the engines.

In preparation for giving my son the gift, I prepared a platform, painted a large piece of plywood green, added some buildings and mounted the train track. I even added the emblem of my father's railroad line on the locomotive.

My son was excited to receive the gift. We immediately set up the train in his room and spent the morning running the train around the track as amateur yardmasters. It didn’t take long for me to realize that lining up the small wheels of the train on the track requires a certain amount of dexterity, quite challenging for a five-year-old when the train derailed.

After a few hours, I walked downstairs to the kitchen to make some breakfast. My son shared his room with his younger brother, so through the baby monitor, I could hear my son playing with his train on the receiver. I also heard the train careen off the tracks. Under his breath my son responded, “Gotta go get Dad.” Within a few minutes, he appeared in the kitchen and asked for help.

I found his words endearing. Those words reflected his child-like dependence on me. He needed his father when his train went off the tracks. Without hesitation, my son sought out the one person who designed and delivered the gift to him, the one who loved him unconditionally. I happened to hear him articulate an innate parent-child dependence and that moment has stayed with me.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” I am not a theologian or pretend to understand the verse completely, but I do believe there is an important takeaway here. As in the case of my son and his derailed train, he easily recognized when he needed help and unabashedly asked for it. Christ modeled this kind of faith with His dependence on His heavenly Father. We too, must do the same.

This experience has allowed me to reflect on my “train” as it heads down the track of life and sometimes derails when reaching difficult points in life. Do I instantly say, “Gotta go get Dad” when I lack the skill to do so, or do I try to put my life back on track by myself?

Whether we are within the walls at Malden Catholic or beyond, we are all called to assist, to guide and to teach our students to develop a faith that helps keep them on track as much as possible. My prayer is that we can all model both dependence and independence well.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. --- Proverbs 3:5-6

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