DOUBT

The wonderful end to the Gospel of Matthew with the familiar instruction we strive to obey. Yet, ‘but some doubted’.  What!  How can that be?  They were seeing Jesus with their own eyes and listening to his words. It is surely reassuring to know that when we have doubts we are not alone; indeed many well-known Christians including Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon and Pope Francis have expressed them. I was drawn to a quote in a daily Devotion I follow which linked to the current recognition of racial prejudice and persecution. James Cone said

“Suffering naturally gives rise to doubt. How can one believe in God in the face of such horrendous suffering as slavery, segregation, and the lynching tree? Under these circumstances, doubt is not a denial but an integral part of faith. It keeps faith from being sure of itself. But doubt does not have the final word. The final word is faith giving rise to hope.”

― James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Doubts can thus be seen to be part of and to strengthen faith. The image of a total solar eclipse has been included partly because I like eclipse pictures but also as a reminder. When we travelled to South America we did not doubt that the eclipse would happen, we reached the planned location and to the predicted second the Eclipse started. A testimony to human understanding but also to Gods amazing gift of creation.