Jesus teaches us (please note the present tense), in the wisdom writing of our Christian tradition that we are to love God with our heart, with our mind, with our soul, and with our strength. I think it is a deeply reassuring direction for all of us whose world view is informed by the insights of science, and the experience of technology. Our love of God is not simply based on feelings although feelings have a part to play in our love of God and each other. We are also called to love God with our minds and our ability to reason. So I thank God for Thomas when he said, ‘I won’t believe unless I see. I won’t believe until I touch the scars and know that what you others are saying is real!’
Our minds enable us to question, and learn, and make sense of things; our minds give us the ability to be creative and communicate…
I would like to invite all who read this little column to consider some faith related questions because ‘though I thank God for Thomas I think there are some things we cannot see and would struggle to measure…
Can we see love… or do we only see what love leads people to do? Does that make love any less real?
In a world that faces seemingly overwhelming challenges what role does hope have in keeping people going? We cannot measure it or grasp it, and yet hope seems to have the power to keep people going, and transform them.
The Hebrew word ‘Shalom’, and the Arabic word ‘Salaam’, are each words of blessing which we translate into the English word ‘Peace.’ What does peace taste like? How do we work for peace and experience it as individuals and as a community?
The questions are not entirely random because love, hope and peace seem to be recurring themes in the faith journey that Jesus calls us to.
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