The Puddleglum Disciple

There’s always at least one of these in the room. It is the person who, in the words of Albert Einstein, can spot a problem for every solution. The power of positive thinking is not their specialty. Don’t get me wrong, the naysaying spirit has its place. Pointing out potential problems and a paucity of resources needs to be addressed – but it has to be weighed against the possible rewards brought to the fore by visionaries. If doubters and skeptics ruled the world I would not now be cranking out these devotionals on a laptop that has more computing power than our first moonshot! So there!

We’ve met up before with the disciple, Thomas. If you’ve ever read the Chronicles of Narnia, Thomas is akin to the delightfully pessimistic  “marshwiggle” – Puddleglum – that is featured in the book: The Silver Chair. Here are a few Puddleglum quotes:

“Good morning Guests” he said. “Though when I say good I don’t mean it won’t probably turn to rain or it might be snow, or fog, or thunder. You didn’t get any sleep, I daresay.” 

“The bright side of it is… that if we break our necks getting down the cliff, then we’re safe from being drowned in the river.”
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“Very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we’ll hardly notice the weather.”

Of all the many fictional characters C.S. Lewis invented, Puddleglum was his favorite. Even as you read these words you are probably calling to mind a Puddleglum or two in your own life. It can’t be helped. And thus we arrive at Thomas – the Puddleglum disciple. He is beloved because he makes our own stumbling discipleship more bearable.

Here’s a heaping helping of Thomas: Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” 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 20:24,25 

I’m glad for Thomas. I can just picture his colleagues jumping up and down with excitement and then turning red-faced at the unbelieving intransigence of Thomas. Yet Thomas bridges the gap of history in a way few other characters in Scripture can muster.  He is no glowing, halo-laden, unreachable saint. He’s got some questions, by golly. He shows us that heaven allows some elbow room for doubt. Thomas becomes then the archetype of the hopeful skeptic. And I’m guessing that includes many of you who follow along with these writings. It certainly includes me. We all have a bit of Puddleglum within.