Dear Friends,
People often ask me to recommend a book that might help a friend struggling to believe in the way of Jesus. And, truth be told, I never have a good answer.
The Bible is beautiful. I read it over and over again, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are vital for how I grow in my understanding of who Jesus was, how he lived and what he taught.
But the reasons I began following Jesus and trusting God, well, they have names like Meg and Jeff, Nancy, Keith, Kate and Darrell. Each of them made God's love and Jesus' way real for me in my youth. I've never stopped needing people like them in my life.
As a young adult, I experienced loss and failure in new and painful ways. And after each new challenge, and some days just after listening to the morning news, I'd wrestle again with the questions: Does Jesus' way of life and promise of new life still hold water? Can I trust those things to guide my next steps? Many days, I had very practical doubts.
Thomas, the disciple they called the twin, often gets a bad rap in Christian circles as the one whose doubts clouded his ability to trust his friends when they said that Jesus had been raised from the dead. But you know, I sympathize with Thomas. Would you bet your future on something you had every reason to believe was impossible?
In Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carol reminds us that sometimes our categories of possible and impossible can be a bit skewed, based on our experiences. He writes:
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
So, let's practice. Join me for worship this Sunday, and we'll see if, together, we can believe six impossible things before brunch. It'll help if you get started on the first one, which you can read about in
Jessica
Jessica Patchett, associate minister
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