My Lord and My God

In many ways we are just like Thomas; aren’t we? We really don’t want to come by our faith second hand (John 20:19-31). Our parents taught us that something worth having was something worth working for. So we ask; is there really such a thing as “blind faith?” Blind faith does not encourage us to probe; it denies us the opportunity to question, to know what we believe intuitively, in our “core.” Blind faith requires minimal spiritual investment, and permits those inclined to cruise through their spiritual journey without the opportunity to really living life’s joy and danger. True faith requires knowing what we believe…beyond any doubt. So Thomas in refusing to say that he understood what he did not understand, or believe what he did not believe, exhibited an honesty that prompted his need to know. 

David Steindl-Rast wrote in Deeper than Words, "nothing is more significant in Jesus' parables than his appeal to "Common Sense." What a pity that the term has been abused to mean no more than sweet reasonableness or, worse, public opinion. Rightly understood, it means the deep awareness that we all have in Common and from which anything sensible must flow. We could even say that Common Sense is God's Holy Spirit in the human heart. And here Jesus differs from the prophets. They appealed to the authority of God standing behind them: 'Thus speaks the Lord God...' Jesus, in contrast, appeals to the authority of God in the hearts of the hearers." When we say the Word becomes flesh in us don't we mean that the "word" becomes an intuitive sense of who we are and what we believe?

Thomas wasn’t the faithless doubter. The so-called faithful disciples remained locked up in the upper room hiding in fear. Fear not doubt gets in the way of our letting the Holy Spirit take charge. Where did Thomas go while others were in hiding? What prompted him to return to his community? Was Thomas “working” at trying to know what he was asked to believe? Thomas wanted the experience of a deeper vision or sight. He was unwilling to blindly accept; it had to be real for him.

True faith is based on trust in God. True faith knows we can deepen our faith by asking critical questions of our traditions and our “inherited” belief propositions. We do this by leaving our comfort zones and living in new ways. Thomas’ encounter with the risen Lord challenges us to know what we believe; so for us as, with Thomas, we too can personally acclaim “My Lord and my God.”