John's gospel is honest enough to say there was doubt the day of the resurrection and the week after the resurrection (John 20). He could have skipped that or changed it somehow, but he didn't. I think it's because John wanted us to know that believing in Jesus is having a relationship with him and relationships come with doubts and struggles; that's just how they are.
I shared the following story in The Well yesterday (I heard it on the podcast OnBeing with Krista Tippet, release date April 1, 2010). Brother George Coin, the Director Emeritus of the Vatican's Observatory and a Jesuit priest, said he had given a scientific presentation in his clerical collar one day. After the presentation, a member of the audience said, "Father, it must be wonderful that with all the uncertainties we have with our scientific pursuits that you have this rock of faith upon which to stand."
I shared the following story in The Well yesterday (I heard it on the podcast OnBeing with Krista Tippet, release date April 1, 2010). Brother George Coin, the Director Emeritus of the Vatican's Observatory and a Jesuit priest, said he had given a scientific presentation in his clerical collar one day. After the presentation, a member of the audience said, "Father, it must be wonderful that with all the uncertainties we have with our scientific pursuits that you have this rock of faith upon which to stand."
Brother George says he pulled off his collar and asked the man, "Who told you that my faith was (like) a rock? Every morning I wake up, I have my doubts. I have my uncertainties. I have to struggle to make my faith grow because faith is a relationship; faith is love. Love in marriage, love with friends, love with brothers and sisters is not something that is always there like a rock. It ebbs and flows."
I think that to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God is to be in relationship with him, a relationship that will ebb and flow. It's a relationship born more of the assent to love than born from the assent to think it is true.
What are some ways today and throughout this Easter that you can show you are willing to love Jesus? How can you assent to that, even if there are parts of the faith that you struggle to believe?
What are some ways today and throughout this Easter that you can show you are willing to love Jesus? How can you assent to that, even if there are parts of the faith that you struggle to believe?