You will know me by my sacrifice.
This is what the biblical story of Doubting Thomas teaches us.
Jesus rises from the dead and returns to his disciples. Not until Thomas places his fingers into the wound on Christ’s side does he believe his eyes.
We are all Doubting Thomas.
But we all have the capacity to be Christ too.
We see greatness and we want to smell the blood that paved the way.
A gladiator triumphantly leaving the colosseum means little until we examine the chinks in his armour, his torn flesh, and the bodies of those he slew lying in the dust behind him.
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Caravaggio) c.1601–1602
Why does success, fame, fortune inspire jealousy?
Because reading the final chapter of a story tells a tale of undeserved riches.
We must see the quest that preceded the end.
We must see the struggle.
We see a warrior reclining on a mountain of gold and our respect, admiration, belief is not won until we see the fire-breathing dragon laying lifeless at the entrance of the cave, rent with the warrior’s sword.
You don’t rise from the dead without sacrifice.
You cannot rise without first dying.
Most are afraid to die, consequently afraid to be reborn.
Without death, there is no life.
Without struggle, without pain, there is no growth.
There is abundance in sacrifice.
Look to Christ on the cross.
Arms wide, elevated above the world, dying for the world in order to gain the world.
The Big Field of Sainfoin near Znojmo IV (Theodore von Hörmann) 1893
Everything is story.
And story is sacrifice.
Without pain, without fight, without struggle to overcome, narrative falls flat and the audience files out of the theatre.
Character is overcoming personified.
Look to the tightest stories ever told, the ones that press citrus into the wounds of human emotions, the ones that make our hearts hammer against our chest.
What do they have in common?
Characters that want something valuable dearly with all their might, their lives on the line, and a hundred formidable obstacles standing in their way.
What is the story you’re telling yourself?
What is the sacrifice you will make?
What are you trying to obtain?
What stands in your way?
What will you do to overcome the obstacles?
What action will you take today?
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:26-27)
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:29)