"Doubt is not the opposite of faith: fear is. Fear will not risk that even if I am wrong, I will trust that if I move today by the light that is given me, knowing it is only finite and partial, I will know more and different things tomorrow than I know today, and I can be open to the new possibility I cannot even imagine today." ~ Verna Dozier
Thomas' example calls us to risk the doubts that call us to greater faith -- opens us to the things we cannot even image today that we may be called to risk, to embrace, to proclaim on behalf of the Gospel as we move forward into God's future.
In fact, I think there is much to be admired in Thomas' dogged insistence that he deserved his own experience of the risen Lord -- that a "faith received from the apostles" was somebody else's faith ... and he wasn't going to settle for it.
And I believe we receive the same invitation from our Lord and that he gave to Thomas.
Listen to Jesus say today:
See me.
Touch me.
Ask for what you need in order to believe and I will give it to you.
And then, go out like Thomas did -- into the world without fear in order to call others to claim for themselves a relationship -- an experience -- a faith in the One who loves us enough to become one of us in order to show us how to walk in love with God and with each other.
3 comments:
Well said........beautiful....a needed reminder...thank you!
How about indifference?
Total, absolute contempt?
Incredulity?
Because those are my feelings towards this xtian nonsense.
Brad Evans: Well if that is how you feel, then I will say that i respect that as your own opinion. I'm not sure what exactly you were trying to say by it, i mean other than expressing your honest opinion... but if it was to start a conversation I will respond by saying this: I believe that it is actually the opposite of nonsense. Jesus changes lives and He is alive today and is willing to accept you as His own. Jesus came to undo the terrible consequence of sin, separation from God. We live in a world ravaged by sin and it is in this world where people, knowing or unknowingly, are searching for something to satisfy the emptiness they feel. It is the emptiness that is created by sin, the absence of God's presence. Jesus came to rescue all human kind through his sacrifice and example of love. His resurrection proved that He is the Son of the Living God and that through Him, you can live the life that God intended. You may believe that this is all a fairytale to justify an optimistic viewpoint of a meaningless and purposeless existence within a cold and uncaring world, and if you do then that opinion is rightfully yours. But I hope you consider that perhaps there actually is a reason behind everything, that there is a Creator of everything, and that there is a Loving God who is ready to forgive you and change your life forever. Regardless, be blessed and live in peace.
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