Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: A Christian Devotional

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

Date

21.11.25

Discover how Planes, Trains, and Automobiles helps you recognize God’s grace in life’s most frustrating moments.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) Rated R

Directed by John Hughes Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Starring Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Dylan Baker, Edie McClurg

An ad executive and a salesman are thrown together as they try to get home for Thanksgiving.

Opening Thoughts

As I sit down to write this blog post, I’m thoughtful, because next week I fly to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family, and I’m reeeaaaalllllyyyy hoping I won’t be experiencing my own version of this movie with all the airline shenanigans that have been happening lately.

I’ve definitely had my own share of travel horror stories. There was the time my brother and I were flying standby to visit our father who was in the hospital, and we got bumped not once, not twice, but eight times before we finally caught a flight. There was the time I was flying home from Europe sitting in the middle seat next to a six-foot 275lb guy who suffered from extreme claustrophobia. There was another trip where I spent a week in the cab of a box truck with two other guys when we drove to Illinois to pick up ministry donations, and then the day after I got home I left on a six hour flight to Iceland where I woke up with a severe pinched nerve in my neck.

But the mother of all my bad travel stories has to be the first time I went to the Realm Makers Conference in 2019. My flight left New Hampshire no problems, and I landed in New York City where I changed planes for my flight to St Louis. I made my connecting flight no problem, and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for two hours before they cancelled our flight due to a nor’easter bearing down on us. I was stranded at LaGuardia, completely at a loss. The airline rescheduled me on a flight to St Louis the next morning, but would not comp me a hotel room because weather is an “act of God” and not their fault. I went to the airport info desk and randomly started calling hotels, most of which were booked solid because pretty much every flight had been cancelled. I finally managed to get a room at a motel near the airport, and took a taxi there. Once I arrived I waited in a line for an hour or so before finally getting to my room. The room was, to be frank, disgusting. There was all manner of curious stains on the carpet and the walls, and the bathroom fixtures were rusty. I had a bare thread of internet, and the door bolt looked like it had been installed by a five year old. I ended up putting the bedside table in front of the door and praying to God there wouldn’t be any fires. I watched old Star Trek reruns on the only station I could get on the TV, and managed to leave a post requesting prayer on the Realm Makers Facebook, all as the hotel was pounded by a storm so fierce I expected to wake up in Oz the next morning.

But, it all worked out. Actually, it worked out great, because I eventually made it to St Louis and the conference, and that was the year I met my two good friends, Josh and Sarah Chadd, because of the prayer request post I had made on Facebook. Yes, like Neal Page, I too walked away with unexpected friends because of my travel mishaps.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a fantastic movie with both heart and humor, and is easily my favorite Thanksgiving movie of all time. Read on for what God showed me in this John Hughes road trip classic!

SPOILERS for Planes, Trains, and Automobiles here!

Neal Page, an ad executive who’s more than a bit uptight, is leaving New York City for what he thinks will be a quick flight home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. He struggles to get to the airport only to find his flight delayed, and then once he boards, he’s bumped from first class to economy. He winds up next to a laid back shower curtain ring salesman named Del Griffith, whom he had a previous brief altercation with over a taxi. The flight ends up diverted to Wichita, Kansas due to bad weather, and Del offers to make sure Neal gets a room at a local hotel. When he sees that all the hotels are booking up fast, Neal agrees, but once they arrive at the hotel, the only room left is a single. Neal and Del end up sharing the room, but not before Neal, fed up with Del’s sloppy habits, unloads a torrent of verbal abuse at him. Del, obviously hurt, refuses to apologize for who he is, and the two finally go to sleep.

The next morning (after discovering they’ve been robbed) they get a ride to the train station where they part ways. However, the train breaks down and the duo walk to the nearest town to catch a bus. They arrive in St Louis where they again separate. Neal attempts to rent a car, but when he arrives at his parking spot, his rental is missing. Furious, Neal returns to the airport and has a foul-mouthed meltdown on a customer service rep for the rental agency. Neal attempts to take a cab to Chicago, but only succeeds in angering a dispatcher, who beats him up. Del arrives on the scene and breaks up the fight, then takes Neal into his rental car. The car is nearly destroyed due to a combination of Del driving the wrong way on the highway and then setting it on fire with a loose cigarette. Exhausted, dirty, and broke, the duo go to a hotel for the night, where Neal barters his expensive Rolex for a room. Del cannot afford a room, but Neal, having softened towards him, offers to share his room.

The next morning, Thanksgiving, Neal and Del take their ruined car and make for Chicago. They are pulled over and the car is impounded, but they catch a ride in a refrigerated cheese truck. The pair finally say goodbye to each other as they catch the subway home, but Neal turns around when he realizes some things Del has said that don’t add up. Del admits he has been on the road for eight years since his wife died and has no real home. Neal invites Del home with him, where they are greeted by Neal’s family just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

So What Did God Show Me?

-I’m sure we’ve all had times like the scene where Neal is sitting next to Del on the plane and he won’t stop talking. Whether you’re on a plane, getting your hair cut, or even in an Uber, there are always going to be situations where you might not feel like talking but the other person is determined to have a conversation with you. I’m an ambivert (also known as an introverted extrovert), which means I can be social and talk to people, but I also need time to recharge and be alone, so many times I just want to sit and be ignored while I amuse myself.

As I was watching this scene, I was feeling for Neal, I really was. Stuck in the middle seat and unable to get away from Del sounded like a special kind of slow torture. Neal was probably exhausted and stressed, and just wanted to get home and see his wife. He didn’t want to be friendly with Del or talk to him because he was focused on himself. But later, after their flight is diverted, then cancelled, and they are both stuck in Wichita, Neal is forced to rely on Del for what to do next.

I feel like this is so reflective of how we treat Jesus sometimes. Jesus always wants to be with us and is always ready to talk to us. He loves us! But so often we ignore him or push him away. We rationalize that we’re busy, or stressed, or tired, or maybe just plain don’t feel like it. Reading his Word and spending time in prayer, praise, and gratitude can be just another “thing” in our already overloaded schedules, and it can be easy to push it off. So we ignore Jesus, or try to. But I also believe it’s true that he loves us too much to leave us alone, trying to figure things out on our own power. So even though we may not like it, there are going to be times when we, like Neal, have to seek help we don’t necessarily want because it’s the only way we’re going to get out of this mess. And like Del, Jesus is gracious and forgiving when we come to him humbly and ask for his help.

-One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is where Neal gets fed up with Del’s sloppy traits and personality quirks and loses his temper, insulting him to his face. Del stands there, hurt, then quietly responds:

“You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I’m an easy target. Yeah, you’re right, I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you… but I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I’m not changing. I like… I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. ‘Cause I’m the real article. What you see is what you get.”

Del knows he’s not a perfect person. Let’s face it, none of us are. But Del owns any shortcomings he has because he knows there are people in his life who love him enough that those things don’t matter. He is solid in his identity because of the love he receives from his friends and family, and that love is enough for him to stand up to Neal and tell him he doesn’t care what he thinks. And the next day, Del treats Neal with warmth and kindness, as if nothing had happened.

When we are solid in our identities as sons and daughters of Christ, we too can stand up to the insults and lies of the enemy. Being a child of God is something that only the Father can bestow, and it cannot be taken from us by anyone or anything else. We can stand firm and hold fast to this truth. Like Del, we can show love and mercy to those who would come against us, because so many do not have the same assurance as we do. They have their own hurts and attacks against their identities, and it’s up to us as God’s children and Christians to be as Jesus to them, forgiving and caring.

-Another iconic scene is when Neal cusses out the car rental agency’s rep, and on the surface, it is funny. But one thing I was thinking about when this scene rolled around was the way Neal treats people. Throughout the course of the movie, every time he wants something from someone, he is at best snarky and at worst, hostile. He somehow seems to think that this attitude is going to get him what he wants – a taxicab at rush hour, a seat in first class, a new rental car, a cab ride to Chicago. But all his hostility doesn’t get him what he wants, it only gets him more hostility.

Del, on the other hand, greets everyone as a friend. He calls them by name, inquires about people’s families, compliments them, smiles at them, and because he does this, he usually gets what he wants, including rides and money. But I don’t think Del acts nicely just to get his way. Del is a genuinely friendly person who enjoys people. Everyone knows the old adage about how you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but it’s true! Did you know that smiling at a person activates the reward center of their brain, and they are more likely to like and remember someone who smiled at them? And smiling doesn’t just benefit the person who is receiving the smile, it benefits us, too! According to a TED talk, smiling provides the same amount of brain stimulation as 2000 chocolate bars! (https://sohp.com/smile-statistics/)

Del has a great attitude that reminds me a lot of how Jesus must’ve been when he walked the earth. Jesus was down to earth like Del, he laughed and told stories like Del. He embraced people, encouraged them, and left them feeling richer, and he asks us to do the same. Of course, there are always going to be people with an attitude like Neal’s to deal with. But the important thing to remember is that we don’t have to respond in kind when someone acts mean or hateful to us. We can have the heart of Christ and respond with his love instead of defensiveness and anger. So, in the words of Dolly Parton, “Smile! It increases your face value!”

-That scene where Del is trying to take off his jacket while driving and gets his arms trapped, and then later when they’re driving down the highway going the wrong way gives a whole new meaning to “Jesus take the wheel,” huh? Yikes.

-Towards the end, Neal has loosened up a bit and, despite the myriad travel issues they’ve had to endure, states that one day they’ll probably laugh about it, and then proceeds to laugh immediately. I look back on my own struggles and hardships in life, travel, and otherwise, and I have to agree with Neal. For the most part, I can look back and laugh. We can laugh because we’re past the scary, anxiety-ridden, panicked parts of the “adventure,” and now we are in a safe and happy place, we can afford to look at the past with some levity. One thing that always helps me is my gratitude journals. I’ve talked about them before (The Sound of Music), and they really have been a wonderful tool to help me focus on the positive, no matter what situation I find myself in or what is going on around me. I started the challenge in November of 2017, inspired by Ray Hollenbach’s amazing devotional book A Month of Thanksgiving. At the beginning of the book, he gives the reader a challenge: Every day, write down three things you are thankful for. It can be anything! You can do more than three if you have more, but never any less than three. And you can repeat things each day if you like, because some things are worth thanking God for more than once. Well, I started doing this as a Thanksgiving challenge for myself, and I never stopped, and now, eight years later, I have approximately 2940 days’ worth of entries, with multiple entries each day. That’s a treasure hoard of thanksgiving!! It also proves what a rich giver God is! Also, one key thing I always notice when I look back over entries is that since I’ve highlighted the good stuff, I don’t remember the bad stuff! Or, like, Neal, I do remember, but I laugh at it. Why not try to keep your own gratitude journal? I promise it’ll change the way you look at life.

Closing Thoughts

Neal finally makes it home just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Looking back over the course of the movie, I found myself wondering what his journey would have been like if he’d taken his friend’s suggestion at the beginning and taken the eight o’clock flight with him instead of the six (“You’ll never make the six…”) We never find out if his friend got home ok or if he had to endure his own travel miseries. But what if Neal had taken the eight o’clock flight and gotten home fine, no problems? There’s a deleted scene where Neal’s wife talks about how distant Neal has become, how he’s always travelling and even when he’s home, he’s not “home.” Neal probably would’ve made it home, and nothing would have changed. But in spending two crazy days on the road with Del, Neal learned to more deeply appreciate his family and his home. (As well as the simple things like a nice shower!) Sure, it was a rough learning curve, but I believe that Neal emerged a better man because of all the trials he had to go through (he admits that he’s a little wiser now), and he even changed enough to embrace Del as a friend and welcome him into his Thanksgiving dinner.

I think about my worst travel trip, the unplanned New York City layover, and how miserable I was, and angry, and anxious. But now I look back on that time and celebrate, because like Neal, I gained dear friends I might not have if I hadn’t had my unexpected detour. God works in ways we don’t always understand, and even if things look terrible it’s important to remember his plans for us are good, always good. So the next time your flight is delayed, your car breaks down, or you’re stuck next to someone who is really getting on your nerves, remember that God is in control. Like Del, “Go with the flow like a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream,” and see what God does…it might be something you never expected!

Life is never going to go as smoothly as we like it, no matter how hard we try to plan things or control situations. What current disruptions or delays are you dealing with in life?

Reading:
Philippians 4:6-7

Challenge:
You may not be able to see the end of the road ahead, or even what the next step is, but God does, and He is with you every step of the way, guiding and providing for you. Why not start your own gratitude journal to track his plan as it unfolds in your life? One day you can look back and laugh! (I know this is the same challenge as a couple of months ago with The Sound of Music, but it’s Thanksgiving! And if any of you hadn’t started it yet, now is the perfect time!)