Was Thomas Really That Bad?

I was reading the Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday and was struck by this thought, "Was Thomas really that bad?"  You know people have really given Thomas a bad rap on this whole doubt thing.  Show me just one of the followers who believed without seeing?  O.k. John talks about believing after he came out of the tomb, but really he needed to SEE the empty tomb for himself, he didn't believe because of what Jesus had taught.

I don't think our friend Tommy was that bad of a guy, and he certainly wasn't any different than the rest of the followers.  His only really offense was that he showed up to the meeting late, then again how many of us can be found guilty of the same offense? 

For me the story of Thomas is a story about us, all of us at one time or another who simply didn't feel that faith was enough but we wanted to see more.  How many times have we asked for a sign from God, or questioned and challenged God in different life circumstances?  I can't be too tough on Tom, I mean I would be a hypocrite if I pointed out his failure but not the many times that I too wanted to see in order to believe.

There are days where I am too much like Thomas, and it is at times like that where I need to be reminded of these words of the risen Lord, "Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." (John 20:29).

Maybe in some cases seeing is believing, but with the risen Lord it is believing that is a blessing!