Pip's Perspective April 22, 2022

Hello everyone, 

First of all, I want to put out a reminder that on April 28th at 7pm we will be having a ONE Northside Homelessness Teach-In in the sanctuary. If I get requests to include zoom on this meeting, we will do zoom too. To do zoom, I need RSVP's from people who will be participating that way. Please email me at this address! Jesus said that however we treat those who are struggling is how we treat him, so I think the mandate is clear that we come together to create more housing for our housing insecure neighbors. I hope you join me! 

The scripture for this coming Sunday is that of Doubting Thomas. This is the story that Thomas, after Jesus' resurrection, would not believe it was really him until he saw firsthand. One thing I find interesting about this story is that it seems like the women were first to believe. They were first to witness the risen Christ, and they didn't have a list of demands in order to believe. Why is that? 

What I don't think is that there is anything about the female gender that is prone to more serious spiritual or metaphysical faith. But I do think there is something about living closer to the edge of society that does make a person more prone to believing in strange or otherwise unbelievable stuff. Like, for instance, I do think that poverty gives a person a deeper appreciation of the things in life that matter. When Jesus says, "it is easier for a camel to go through the head of a pin than a rich person to get into the kingdom of heaven," (Matthew 19:24) I don't think he's saying that rich people are damned. However, I think that being given social/financial power in a society makes a person less likely to appreciate other kinds of power, such as spiritual power. So, women in a patriarchal society may be more likely to see what is in front of their eyes, in this example, the risen Christ, than their male counterparts, who may demand more proof.