I guess I just dated myself and a good lot of you will not have the kind of relationship with Snoopy that I have. But Snoopy, of all the Peanuts characters, seems to cut through the posturing, the fakeness, and get right down to what is real.
Doubt is real, and everyone has it. Whether we doubt ourselves, or the future, or the capacity of the Vancouver Canucks to ever again make the playoffs, every human has the capacity to doubt.
We may try to hide it by looking suave or bluster, but I believe doubt can be a good thing, a natural thing, a very healthy thing.
In the world of religion, some see doubt as a weakness. Doubt reveals a lack of faith.
If we doubt that means we don’t trust, and isn’t faith all about trust?
In Yan Martel’s book, Life of Pi, there is a snippet of conversation between the narrator or writer, and Pi exploring faith. It goes like this:
Pi: Faith is a house with many rooms.
Writer: But no room for doubt?
Pi: Oh, plenty, on every floor. Doubt is useful. It keeps faith a living thing. After all, you cannot know the strength of your faith until it is tested.
The disciple Thomas is the patron saint of tested faith. He doubted the resurrection and needed to see it with his own eyes. It would be hard to be human without some level of doubt. On Sunday, we will have an honest conversation about doubt as a thing that enlivens our faith and adds sparkle to our humanity.
See you Sunday
Will.