Coming into vibration

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

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Over the past month or two, I have been completely drawn in by the podcast series, The Telepathy Tapes. This series tells the stories of the amazing lives and spiritual gifts of people with non-speaking autism – how they can read the minds of their caregivers, communicate directly with one another, and access a shared consciousness, among other gifts.  

Through the stories of these incredible people, what emerges is a clear sense that humans have these capabilities built into us - only we do not use them. And a big key in the ability to access this world on any possible level is the absolute necessity to believe that it’s possible.

While I would say that very few of us have reliable access to the spiritual gifts that allow us to go beyond human perception or understanding, we have all probably had at least a small taste of such ability. Hearing a phone ring with a knowing of who was calling… or what the tenor of the conversation might be like…. Sitting down to write and experiencing words or music flow through as if from beyond…. 

But in order to nurture these capabilities, we first have to believe.

This notion of believing is a key to understanding the Gospel passage for today. But perhaps, it’s not the sort of believing that we might think that it is. 

In our contemporary culture, belief is largely understood as a mental construct – something that we ascribe to, say is true. And in Jesus’ time, this level of believing might have been true, and, there might have been more to it. The believing in today’s text could have also pointed to a coming into vibration with Jesus – a being animated by his sound, his atmosphere.

Coming into and living from a different sound, atmosphere, vibration changes the way that we see and interact with everybody, and everything.

This notion of believing as coming into vibration calls to something that I have recently learned about the inner spaciousness of the human body. Turns out, there is a lot of space between cells. This fluid-filled space allows for communication among the cells of the body, structural support, exchange of nutrients and waste, and assistance with immune response.

We need this space. The body needs to be able to vibrate.

And yet, when we get into activated states – especially states of fear or doubt, we can get contracted. And there is less space to vibrate.

Chances are very good that we have all experienced this.

In these regards, Thomas is an archetype of this part of us – the part that we need to see in order to release.

There is a story about the Buddha on the night of his enlightenment. Mara, the figure representing temptation, distraction, and obstacles to enlightenment was said to have spent the whole night putting one obstacle after another in front of the Buddha. The final obstacle, the final temptation was doubt. Could he actually wake up?

In this moment, it is said that the Buddha placed one hand upon the Earth, calling for the help of the ancestors – to come, so he knows that he does not face this test alone. And as he does, Mara flees, and the prince Siddartha Gautama becomes a buddha – an awakened one.

The Resurrection calls us all to examine our hearts – to see what gets in the way of us seeing Divine Reality all around us, through the eye of our awakened hearts. This is not work that we can do alone. We need others – to encourage us, even to hold the mirror up for us to see what we cannot see.

But when can – and our hearts can awaken, we can see the body of the Risen One shining – in us, through us, all around…. everywhere.

#InnerChristianity