Easter 2

By now all of last week’s hard-boiled eggs have been transformed into egg salad and consumed. The contents of all those Easter baskets have disappeared, except, of course, those black jelly beans. On this Sunday the spiritual and sugar high of Easter Sunday is wearing off. Hence the colloquial designation of today as “Low Sunday.”

After the “high” of Easter, we come back to the everydayness of life. It’s when we’re most “low” in energy and desire. It’s when we start to entertain the most doubts about ourselves, our lives, our choices, and our faith.

With so much of our culture “unchurched” and biblically illiterate, there are still three individuals who remain popular in the common cultural vocabulary.

The first is the Good Samaritan, Jesus’ classic story of an unexpected compassion.

The second is the Prodigal Son. Again, a tale of unlooked for grace and unpredictable acceptance.

The third is Doubting Thomas, the story of the disciple who would not take anyone’s testimony as true unless he could see for himself.

The fact that “Doubting Thomas” has remained one of the most memorable of gospel figures says as much about our own doubts and indecisions as it does about the appeal of this particular disciple.

Doubt is not a bad thing.

In his book titled Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner wrote, “Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”

Genuine doubt keeps us engaged and ever questioning. Thomas was the only one of the remaining disciples who was not hunkered down in the Upper Room, quaking and shaking in fear, when Jesus made his first appearance. Perhaps he was the only one bold enough to venture out into Jerusalem’s streets to buy food for his fellow disciples.

All we know is that he was out and about among the general population when Jesus appeared. Thomas willingly chose to come back to his community, to the frightened followers of Jesus hiding out in that Upper Room.

When he returns, Thomas is torpedoed by testimonies. The voice of Mary Magdalene, “I have seen the Lord!” is now the chorus of all his companions: “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas doubts. However, it is not entirely clear what it is that Thomas doubts.

Does Thomas doubt the truthfulness of the other disciples? Does Thomas doubt the sanity of his friends?

Does Thomas doubt the identity of the one the other disciples claim to have seen?

Does Thomas doubt the actual death of Jesus?

Does Thomas doubt the physicality of a risen body?

Whatever it is that Thomas doubts, it’s not enough to break the bond he has with the disciple community. He voices his “doubt” and makes absolutely clear what he requires to vanquish it. But eight days later “Doubting Thomas” is still living in that small, rented space with his scared community of companions. His doubts have not caused him to leave the other disciples. His doubts have not led the believing disciples to throw him out of their fellowship. The doubter and the doubtless live together as a community of disciples.

Thomas and his doubt were not some sort of cancerous tumor that needed to be excised from this tiny shiny body of faith. In fact, it seems that this doubtful disciple is the impetus for Jesus’ second visit to the locked-in faithful. The moment Thomas experiences for himself the presence of the Risen Lord, he abandons his doubt. His gut reaction is to blurt out a personal confession with immense theological insight, “My Lord and My God.”

Thomas may have had his “doubts” about the reports he heard from his disciple community. But he never wavered in his commitment to them. He spent three years traveling the countryside with them. He ate meals with them. He witnessed miracles with them. He listened to Jesus with them. His community spirit was strong and healthy. A little doubt could not destroy all the strong, spiritual growth that had bloomed during the course of Jesus’ ministry.

Health and well-being take time and attention. Our 21st century lifestyle has demonstrated that all too well. After decades of over-processed, nutritionally negative, calorie-laden fast foods, our bodies are in trouble. We are overweight. We are battling “lifestyle” diseases like Type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Our mental health is increasingly tenuous as well. Did you know that there are as many TV ads for anti-depressants as there are for antihistamines?

The only market growing as fast as sleep aids is the market for highly caffeinated drinks. When we’re stressed out, we sit and play in “virtual” realities instead of taking a nice long walk or run in “real” reality.

We used to say, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Now we know it is “five-a-day” that keeps the doctor at bay.

Nutritionists and scientists have figured out what we need to do to nurture a healthy body. The key to nutritional health is the “five-a day” rule of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Most of us barely make three, many of us one or two.

Psychiatrists and psychologists have figured out what we need to do to nurture a healthy mind. Psychiatrist Sheila Hollins tells of the “five-a-day” regimen for mental health that parallels the “five-a-day” regimen for physical health. The five-a-day for mental health includes: 1) be physically active; 2) connect with others; 3) take time to notice your surroundings; 4) learn something new every day; 5) give to your neighbors and community.

But human beings are more than physical and mental beings. We are also spiritual beings. If our spiritual health is neglected, abused, or malnourished, our spirit will shrink and shrivel.

Maybe we should think of “Doubting Thomas” as a spiritual comrade on those dark days when what we are unsure of seems to far outweigh what we know to be true. But Thomas, despite all his “doubts,” was pretty darn spiritually healthy. After a week that saw his rabbi and spiritual leader tried, convicted, crucified, and buried, Thomas was still around. His spirit sucked it up and stuck it out, regardless of the dire social circumstances, despite his sincere personal doubts.

Just as there are five servings of vegetables and fruits per day to keep us physically fit, and five mental exercises we should practice per day to keep our minds strong and supple, so there are five spiritual exercises to keep a healthy spirit. Call them “The 5 P’s of Spiritual Health.”

Forst, proximity: Like Thomas, we must keep ourselves connected to our community. The greatest gift Jesus left was the strength of a community of faith. For our soul’s health and holiness, the reality of relationships is not an option. Relationships are where our spiritual life is fed and watered, weeded and nurtured.

Second, pray in private: Jesus was always excusing himself from his disciples, from crowds clamoring for miracles, from the distraction of everydayness, to seek singular time with God. Jesus went up mountains, out on boats, into the desert, just to have some personal, private time with the Father. In the silence of solitude all doubts and despairs, all heights and depths, can be revealed and relinquished to a higher power.

Third, pray in community: Giving voice to the needs of others is like getting a great massage. It makes everything in you work better, feel better, and be better for those around you. Praying for your faith community, your school, your workplace, your hometown, your country, your world connects you and suddenly makes you invested in your world. Praying communally grows your spirit beyond your own needs, beyond your own self. Praying communally saves us from the grinches’ curse of living with a spirit “three sizes too small.”

Fourth, praxis. Praxis is a fancy word for “practice what you preach.” Praxis is exercising your faith in everydayness. Praxis can be offered on your most “Doubting Thomas Days.” Sometimes you have to go through the motions, even when you doubt. Sometimes the only thing that you can do is keep moving and doubt your doubt. Go buy groceries for the food bank. Hold NICU-infants who need human contact. Deliver some meals on wheels to those who can’t get out. If you have a day when you cannot feel your faith, do acts of faithfulness instead.

And lastly, praise: How can we not see God’s presence in what’s all around us? Even on the most dismal of days, stretch your spirit to find a praise to offer God: For light, for dark; for noise, for quiet; for harmonic resonance, for dissonant discord; for a loving family, for a singular life; for great success, for simple sustenance. Praises multiply every day we care to express them. When you offer praise daily, the categories for praise become legion.

Live the five-a-day regimen for physical, mental and spiritual life, and you’ll live an Easter life of wholeness and holiness. No doubt about it.