Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. John 20:29 (NIV)

Imagination is powerful. For some of us, to believe in the invisible and the unknowable is an adventure we’re not unaccustomed too. Seeing Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” world in our mind's eye comes easy. We see a zombie film and on the way home check for zombies around every corner. We listen to a beautiful song and we’re transported to another realm, another time, another place… It was Einstein who said, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

But then, some of us, find imagination frustrating. We like the facts, the attainable. Realists, goal setters. Give us a problem and what we’ve got to work with and we’ll get the job done. And sometimes, imagination can get in the way of the very practical things in life. The unchangeable things… It’s not that we don’t have faith, not at all. We want to get on with life, squeeze every moment out of it, rather than waiting around for “what if’s and maybe’s.”

Both dispositions have much to offer the world.

I think Thomas found imagination difficult.

He was a strong and practical kind of guy. When Lazarus died, Thomas told Jesus that he was willing to follow him even under the threat of death. At the last supper, when Jesus spoke of leaving to prepare a place for them, Thomas was the only one brave enough to ask him what he meant. “Can you explain, Lord?” (As if we’ve never asked God that! ha!). Thomas had risked everything to follow Jesus.

And then Jesus died. A death Thomas had never imagined could happen.

But the Divine, in his faithfulness, was up to something. While Thomas was processing, Jesus came back to life. He started appearing to his disciples and followers, and these guys found Thomas and told him all they had seen. But a heartbroken, confused, angry, shattered Thomas replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Raw human emotion.

Eight days later, the disciples were hanging out in a house, when suddenly, Jesus was ’there’ among them. Thomas was once again floored and shaken. The unbelievable was standing on the other side of the room in believable flesh and blood. He looked at his hands and saw the rough torn apart holes that were more just shreds of skin where the light shone through…

Jesus crossed the room and walked towards Thomas. Knowing what he had said eight days earlier, Jesus picked up his hands, looked into his eyes and said, “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” (John 20:27)

Jesus didn’t leave without giving Thomas the opportunity to get intimately acquainted with his sacrifice. Perhaps this moment was his awakening, the catalyst for life-long faith.

Are we more blessed because we haven’t seen Jesus in the flesh and we believe?

Not being blinded by hurt and negativity – that’s a blessing. Not being guarded because of abuse and neglect – that’s a blessing. Maintaining child-like faith in a world growing ever cynical and suspect – that’s a blessing. To be able to not harden your heart or bury your dreams when things change course, to keep them alive and soft with faith – that’s a blessing…

Frederick Buechner writes, “Even though he said the greater blessing is for those who can believe without seeing, it’s hard to imagine that there’s a believer anywhere who wouldn’t have traded places with Thomas, given the chance, and seen that face and heard that voice and touched those ruined hands.”

Allow your doubts to fuel your imagination, to open your eyes, even if just in your mind, to the possibilities that live in the realm of the divine, whose imagination and faith knows no heavenly or earthly bounds.

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