Due to our situation regarding the coronavirus, I've been giving a good deal of thought to the concept of faith. Today's Gospel has Thomas not willing to believe in Jesus' resurrection until he could touch the risen Lord. There are many people who attained their faith in similar ways; people whose direct contact with God was undeniable, not something that could be dismissed as fancy or imagination. In some ways I envy them, but in many, I don't. My doubts allow me leeway in my thoughts and actions. With hard, incontrovertible truth facing me, I would be overwhelmed by my lack of worthiness and the sinfulness of my nature.
In connection to the coronavirus, we see people dealing with the challenges of belief. Most people (fortunately, at this point) have no connection at all to the disease, some to the point that they do not even believe it exists at all, or that it exists in a way other than the experts tell them (the atheists and agnostics of the coronavirus, if you will). To some degree, everyone without direct experience has those questions of faith, questions of the virus' existence, questions of the virus' power, questions about the motives behind those who proclaim the virus' effects on us, questions about the restrictions placed on us because of this virus, etc.
There are those who know of someone within their realms of work, friends, or family whom the disease has infected. For them, the disease is simultaneously real and unreal. They still hold the suspicions shared by those who are completely untouched by the disease, but out of respect for their coworkers, friends, or family infected, they are more inclined to believe in the disease and heed the warnings given.
Then there are those whose lives have been touched directly by the disease. Perhaps they lost a loved one to it; perhaps they suffered themselves. For them, there is no doubt that the disease is real. However, there are those among them who were touched in very different ways, those who were tested positive, but with little or no impact on their health or daily life. Some of these give prayers of thankfulness; others find themselves in one of the above categories.
This is a clumsy analogy--comparing faith in a disease to faith in God based on experience with one or the other. Still, I cannot help but notice similar patterns. Those who do not believe in the disease are protesting laws based on it. God's laws are often treated in a similar fashion. Similarly, experts in both fields are doubted, their motivations are questioned. Interestingly, both divides tend to run along political lines.
I suppose that I'm saying this: Those who believe in one but not the other should recognize that they share more in common with those who believe the opposite of them than they would like to admit. Why do we expect more understanding from people who do not share our faith than we do from ourselves?
In connection to the coronavirus, we see people dealing with the challenges of belief. Most people (fortunately, at this point) have no connection at all to the disease, some to the point that they do not even believe it exists at all, or that it exists in a way other than the experts tell them (the atheists and agnostics of the coronavirus, if you will). To some degree, everyone without direct experience has those questions of faith, questions of the virus' existence, questions of the virus' power, questions about the motives behind those who proclaim the virus' effects on us, questions about the restrictions placed on us because of this virus, etc.
There are those who know of someone within their realms of work, friends, or family whom the disease has infected. For them, the disease is simultaneously real and unreal. They still hold the suspicions shared by those who are completely untouched by the disease, but out of respect for their coworkers, friends, or family infected, they are more inclined to believe in the disease and heed the warnings given.
Then there are those whose lives have been touched directly by the disease. Perhaps they lost a loved one to it; perhaps they suffered themselves. For them, there is no doubt that the disease is real. However, there are those among them who were touched in very different ways, those who were tested positive, but with little or no impact on their health or daily life. Some of these give prayers of thankfulness; others find themselves in one of the above categories.
This is a clumsy analogy--comparing faith in a disease to faith in God based on experience with one or the other. Still, I cannot help but notice similar patterns. Those who do not believe in the disease are protesting laws based on it. God's laws are often treated in a similar fashion. Similarly, experts in both fields are doubted, their motivations are questioned. Interestingly, both divides tend to run along political lines.
I suppose that I'm saying this: Those who believe in one but not the other should recognize that they share more in common with those who believe the opposite of them than they would like to admit. Why do we expect more understanding from people who do not share our faith than we do from ourselves?
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