Are You Sure About That?
(Posted April 24, 2025)
These days, there’s probably no better proof of the truth in Bertrand Russell’s statement than watching the news every day. It sometimes can be mind-boggling how somebody who’s defending an indefensible point of view can invent such bizarre “facts” to “prove”
it’s true. They cannot live with doubt, so they invent an ironclad explanation.
If we’re honest with ourselves, though, we “people of faith” have as much of a problem with doubt as the cocksure people Bertrand mentioned.
‘Pretty Sure About That’
When we were kids, life was so much easier because our parents told us what we believed about God and life. Then as we steamed into our adolescence, we began to suspect something: our parents aren’t very smart. In fact with our youth and clear vision, we know better. At this stage, we may cast off parental “truths” and, through trial and error, come up with our own.
‘Umm, Not So Much’
We may even arrive at this point with some of the beliefs we had in the past. However, most of our beliefs support the concept that what feels good doesn’t obligate us to do things that interfere with our own enjoyment. Many people in our contemporary world never let go of this adolescent mindset. “God and church are useful when they make us feel good.” This is a main reason that church seats are so empty in our houses of worship- except for Christmas and Easter, when we not only feel good, we think we’re holy.
‘I Really Doubt That’
But then, there is the inevitable third phase in our lives: the moment of crisis; when we’ve done things right and still we come face-to-face with raw reality: the dissolution of a supposedly permanent relationship. Failure. The death of those we love. Our own serious or possibly terminal illness. These things bring us up short in front of that awful word: DOUBT.
This Sunday we are witness to the way doubt derails the life of Thomas the Apostle. John’s Gospel doesn’t say exactly what threw Thomas into such doubt that he didn’t believe his fellow apostles that they had seen the Lord. However it was probably enough when Thomas watched from a distance as Jesus died on the cross.
Thomas is every man, hating and dreading his own doubt and the dying of faith. But doubt can be a blessing. Paul Tillich said:
“Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.… Sometimes I think it is my mission to bring faith to the faithless, and doubt to the faithful.”
It’s the truth. Most of us, even those of us who wear the collar, experience doubt, and not just one time in our lives. Join us and Thomas this Sunday as we live though our doubts.