OIKOS Australia

“Faith is believing what you know ain’t true”  Mark Twain.
No. No. No. Not so!  Faith is trust and we need evidence for trust! That is how we live, e.g., we trust surgeons and flight captains with our lives. We trust that others will obey the road rules when we drive. We cant see it but we trust in the power of electricity. We base such trust on evidence.  Reality is that which is actually there even when you don’t believe in it and it’s an absolute certainty that disbelieving in God won’t make Him go away. However it is fashionable in some circles to say “nothing is certain”. But there is this human desire for ‘certainty’. It’s everywhere. Here’s a good example.  In John’s biography of Jesus, Thomas was told by the others, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” But then eight days later Jesus appeared and said to Thomas “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” The record says that Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” And Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? How blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
I wonder if Thomas actually put in his finger or his hand to Jesus’ wounds, evidence of who he was, evidence of his suffering and death, and of course, of his bodily resurrection?  One day I will find out.

Ian Thomson, Brisbane

Henri Nouwen Meditation:
One of the hardest things in life is to let go of old hurts. We often say, or at least think: “What you did to me and my family, my ancestors, or my friends I cannot forget or forgive. … One day you will have to pay for it.” Sometimes our memories are decades, even centuries, old and keep asking for revenge. Holding people’s faults against them often creates an impenetrable wall. But listen to Paul: “For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God’s work” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Indeed, we cannot let go of old hurts, but God can. Paul says: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone’s fault against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). It is God’s work, but we are God’s ministers, because the God who reconciled the world to God entrusted to us “the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This message calls us to let go of old hurts in the Name of God. It is the message our world most needs to hear.
Henri Nouwen