Jesus said to him [Thomas], "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. (Jn 20:29)
Am i like St. Thomas? Do i have to see something and feel it to know of its existence? I have never seen a galaxy or touched the ice fields of Antarctica, but i don't doubt their existence. Is God any different?
Truly, it is the Self that demands this affirmation by the senses. We know the world through our senses even though we also know that we are routinely deceived by these verysame senses. I'm cold, yet i see a teenager with shorts and his top off as if it's summer. I need to add pepper to my soup, yet others complain there is too much spice in it already. Others admire the green and red feathers of a bird, yet i cannot see them being colour blind. As kids we rolled up the windows in the car because of the manure smell while an uncle rolled his down, drew in a deep breath and declared his love of the countryside. The Buddha taught that senses were not to be trusted, that all sensations rise and pass (like the pain one feels in sitting meditation) and that the conditioned and untrained monkey mind will linger on what it likes and will panic at what it dislikes.
Indeed it is then a blessing to know something without having to use the unreliable sensory perceptions to affirm. It is a blessing to know something without the pride of ego's need for comfort. It is a blessing to know something by seeing the world in a different way, with other eyes, to see the joy and peace and compassion and wisdom that abounds and know that Christ is present. To see God everywhere and in all things.
Have i seen Jesus?
Why yes, i have through the Holy Spirit. God let met accept your gift of faith and let me grow in it, seeing you everywhere and in everyone, at work in all that breaths and moves, feel your blessed presence with me at all times that doubt's shadows and lies can be kept at bay.
Deo gratias.
Am i like St. Thomas? Do i have to see something and feel it to know of its existence? I have never seen a galaxy or touched the ice fields of Antarctica, but i don't doubt their existence. Is God any different?
Truly, it is the Self that demands this affirmation by the senses. We know the world through our senses even though we also know that we are routinely deceived by these verysame senses. I'm cold, yet i see a teenager with shorts and his top off as if it's summer. I need to add pepper to my soup, yet others complain there is too much spice in it already. Others admire the green and red feathers of a bird, yet i cannot see them being colour blind. As kids we rolled up the windows in the car because of the manure smell while an uncle rolled his down, drew in a deep breath and declared his love of the countryside. The Buddha taught that senses were not to be trusted, that all sensations rise and pass (like the pain one feels in sitting meditation) and that the conditioned and untrained monkey mind will linger on what it likes and will panic at what it dislikes.
Indeed it is then a blessing to know something without having to use the unreliable sensory perceptions to affirm. It is a blessing to know something without the pride of ego's need for comfort. It is a blessing to know something by seeing the world in a different way, with other eyes, to see the joy and peace and compassion and wisdom that abounds and know that Christ is present. To see God everywhere and in all things.
Have i seen Jesus?
Why yes, i have through the Holy Spirit. God let met accept your gift of faith and let me grow in it, seeing you everywhere and in everyone, at work in all that breaths and moves, feel your blessed presence with me at all times that doubt's shadows and lies can be kept at bay.
Deo gratias.
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