April 12th

“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.” John 20:24-25

despite all the shares
of the selfie of Mary
and the gardener,
despite the AI generated
meme of what that locked
room must have looked like,
despite the temptation to join
in the doomscrolling about
what really happened
in the tomb during the night,
Thomas simply wanted
the sort of tangible, touchable,
relatable proof that Jesus
was really Jesus.
because if he came back
with no wrinkles, no wounds,
no weariness on his face, but
with perfect hair, skin, teeth—
well, he obviously wasn’t the one
who had told Thomas about
the way, the truth, the life
and then lived it out completely.

© Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman