Give thanks for doubt

Before Doubting Thomas there was Peter on the waves of the Sea of Galilee:

A man who has a strong faith in the Way can walk on the yielding water as if on a solid rock, but if he goes back to doubting, then the water will go back to its true nature, and how can he stay brave?  When the wise man follows heaven's decrees, fire cannot burn him, a sword does not cut him, water does not drown him.  Why should wind or waves worry him?  The first follower doubted so that we might believe; one man's moment of doubt can serve to end the doubts of all those millions who come after him.  If he had not been made to doubt, our faith would have been without foundation.  Therefore we give thanks for his faith as we give thanks for his doubts.

As quoted in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, by Jonathan D. Spence.

Comments

[unorthodoxology]

Is it wrong to want to inspire doubt? Buechner referred to doubt as the ants in the pants of faith, what gets us moving in the direction of the holy in spite of ourselves.

Doubt, for me, has always been the catalyst for deeper faith. Turning my answers into questions has liberated God to be God.

I had never thought of doubts as a way of helping others avoid their own doubts.