doubts

Wednesday April 18th, John 20: " 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Now that we don’t have to do anything, and realize that we haven’t done anything, we can either get out there into the Galilee, the world, and plant those seeds or blame someone else for not planting those seeds in our hands. The disciples give us a good example. Unfortunately it is an example of what not to do.. They stood there and blamed Thomas. He will forevermore be the example of doubt in the world of people themselves are held up inside the four walls of Christian churches waiting for someone else to blame for not being out there in the Galilee. Doubt however, rather than being something antithetical to faith is the essence of faith. Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith, it gets it up and moving (Buechner, Wishful thinking). Perhaps it was Thomas’ doubt that got the disciples up and moving and out into the world. Thomas traveled further than any of the other disciples, establishing churches in India and there are even some reports of his traveling as far as present day China. Perhaps it is our doubts that will be the true blessing that will get us to leave the four walls of our comfort zone and go to where Jesus is waiting for us to bring the good news, in the Galilee, which is another way of saying out in our world.