Postman Delivers The Goods

The sun is shining. The grass is green. The sky is blue. It’s another normal day in Greendale for Postman Pat and his black and white cat in 'Postman Pat - The Movie', released at cinemas yesterday (Friday 23 May).

Whether he is called upon to rescue sheep from trees or simply deliver the mail, Pat (voiced by Stephen Mangan) loves his job. He is ready with a smile and a wave for every passer-by. The villagers think the world of him. At home, family life is also good. Pat is a dutiful dad to Julian and a loving husband to Sara. The only problem is, he wants to treat Sara to a holiday in Rome and he can’t quite afford it on a postman’s salary.

When Pat hears about a TV talent competitioMaden offering the winner an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy, he decides to enter. He hopes his song will impress judge Simon Cowbell so that he can secure a place in the final and go on to claim the prize. At the auditions, Pat opens his mouth and delivers a belter. His friends and colleagues can’t quite believe it. Pat can sing! After gaining a place in the final, Pat meets rival contestant Josh.

Rupert Grint, who plays Josh, told the 'War Cry' sister paper 'Kids Alive!' about the character’s naive nature. ‘Josh is a bit of a day dreamer and sees the good in everyone,’ he says. ‘He doesn’t really care about competitions, and so his manager tries to lead him astray.’ Josh’s manager is determined to do whatever it takes to bring Pat down. So when he discovers that a robot has been employed to cover the postal rounds while Pat has been focusing on his publicity campaign, he exposes the secret. Will the public turn on their beloved postman for lying to them?

Taking centre stage, Pat comes clean. He explains to the TV audience that he didn’t want to give up his postal duties but found himself caught up in the fame game. ‘It’s so easy to lose sight of what’s important,’ he confesses. ‘Being on telly is quite a thrill, but so is playing football with your son. I forgot to take time for those I really care about.’ The truth is out. So will Pat’s wife be kissing goodbye to her dream holiday?

Although it isn’t wrong to want good things for ourselves and our loved ones, chasing glory and striving for material possessions can be harmful - especially if it comes at the cost of our relationships. In working round the clock to make more money, we risk missing out on quality time with our family and friends. While daydreaming about what we want in the future, we perhaps neglect the preciousness that is the present.

When life doesn’t seem to be as exciting as we might have hoped, it can be difficult to feel content with our lot. But Jesus tells us we mustn’t worry about it. He says: ‘Only people who don’t know God are always worrying… Your Father in Heaven knows [what] you need… Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself’ (Matthew 6:32–34 Contemporary English Version).

Whatever stage of life we are in, Jesus promises us that God cares about it. When we hand our life over to him, we will receive what we truly need: more than enough love and forgiveness to last a lifetime. They come as part of the package.

UK & Ireland War Cry 24 May 2014