"I do myself"

Every parent has experienced the 'I do myself' stage of toddler development.  It is that period when their will exceeds their skill and a parent's job is to hover very near by to avoid total disasters.  (And of course, to be able to discern what are totally beyond reasonable jobs for the little one to 'do myself').


Thomas, the famous Doubter, needs to see for himself.  Does he doubt the sanity of the other disciples?  Were they prone to punking one another?  Is he a skeptic in all things, including this so called 'sighting' of the risen Jesus?  Is he hungry, tired or so weighed down with grief he has no room for new knowledge or nuanced emotions?

Or, is Thomas just like every one else.  Until he 'sees', he cannot believe.  Until he encounters Jesus, he cannot believe.  Until the God who raised Jesus from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit is somehow experienced, by him, in person, he cannot believe.  It's not that he doesn't want to believe.  He needs an encounter to move from his disappointment, heartbreak, maybe even despair, to hope.  He needs to see for himself.

So Jesus comes and makes himself known.  Not in judgment, not in sadness, not to mock Thomas or anyone else.  Jesus comes to bring Thomas the peace he needs, a peace that passes all understanding, the very peace which was made possible in the person of Jesus.

Faith is born from an encounter with God.  Faith in the risen one is born in that space between two people when forgiveness happens, or mercy is given, or love is expressed, or life slides into death, or, at the last, peace calms all things.

Road trip!

My daughters and I took a road trip one summer.  Megan needed a ride home from Minneapolis MN and suggested we drive out, pick her up and then take our time getting back to NY.  (This is known in our family as a classic Megan plan.)

Kate and I crossed into Canada via a bridge that curved high into the sky and then down again to accommodate ships traveling underneath.  Still makes me queasy to think about it.

We drove through forests of pine trees*  (I call everything that has needles a pine tree, so they could have been fir or something else).  Miles upon miles of straight road between two dense stands of trees.  We stopped for food when we could find a restaurant, and for a night's rest when we were too tired to drive further.

On the way home we stopped in Chicago and Cleveland (Rock N Roll Hall of Fame), took in a few museums, stopped at a diner where they didn't take credit cards, and at another who served its 'famous pie.' It was the most unplanned thing I had ever done.  I think we should do it again.

The next time, though, I'm going to be looking for Jesus.  I know he's out there, traveling the roads, opening up the scriptures, doing kindness, healing souls.  It bugs me that I missed him on this first road trip.  Unlike the two who traveled the road to Emmaus, I never saw what was probably right in front of my face.

Each day of our lives is a road trip, and Jesus is on the road talking to travelers and there is no reason that you and I can't be some of those travelers. On the other hand, we could also be the face of Jesus to our fellow travelers.

Maybe I don't have to travel all the way to Lake Woebegone country to be a part of a modern Emmaus story.  Perhaps you don't either.