His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed." (6 Thomas)

Abstain from saying or doing anything contrary to what is true.

The disciples ask about religious rules. Jesus responds with spiritual guidance.

Yesterday the gospel lesson in many churches tells of the risen Jesus repeatedly telling his frightened followers, "Peace be with you." (John 20:19-31).

The gospel context suggests, be at peace, calm down, put aside your fears.

The Hebrew or Aramaic also means, be whole, be in right relationship with others, find your true self, behave in a fully integrated way, have integrity.

"Don't do what you hate." How often I have failed to follow this loving principle.

To truly worship God honor what is true in how we engage others and ourselves.

Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised."] (5 Thomas)

John Boyd, a late 20th Century American military strategist, emphasized that humans tend to see what we expect to see. Boyd advocated influencing an adversary's orientation, encouraging the adversary to see what you want them to see... and taking advantage of the misperception.

Boyd also cautioned that our own orientation - or predispostion - is potentially our greatest vulnerability. We will see what we expect and, too often, not see what is right in front of our face. He urged decision-makers to dispense with expectations and intently engage present reality.

What is your predisposition? Are you an optimist? A pessimist? Do you tend to see the good in others, in yourself? Or are you a critic who focuses on faults? What do you expect? Why is this your expectation? Can you step aside from your expectations? What might you see and experience if you engage life without expectations?

Above is an icon of St. Thomas encountering the risen Christ.

Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one." (4 Thomas)

Innocence can - and should - inform experience. Too often what experience teaches is wrong.

Experience can teach caution, suspicion, distrust, and self-assertion. Innocence is open, curious, joyful, and loving.

Experience not grounded in God's intention ends in darkness. Innocence and experience faithfully combined can be a source of perpetual wisdom.

Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." (4 Thomas)

If we look within ourselves - if we can come to know ourselves truly and fully - we will understand how we are in profound relationship with God.

We have long known the Kingdom of God is within (see Luke 17:20-21). Most of us, however, seem reluctant to cultivate this knowledge.

It is as if our true self is an old friend who we go out of the way to avoid; a friend who reminds us or challenges us in ways that we find disturbing.

Thomas also has Jesus tell us that if we fully engage the outside world - nature and neighbors - there too we can find the reign of God.

We should seek to know and not stop seeking until we find our true relationships. It is in those relationships tht we will find ourselves and God.

Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"(3 Thomas)

We have already heard: ask and it will be given, seek and find, knock and it will be opened. (Luke 11: 9-10, see also Matthew 7: 7-8)

Especially in this first week after Easter I like that the first reaction to finding is to be disturbed. This was certainly the disciples' experience.

This is, almost always, the sequence by which we discover anything truly worthwhile. Because it disrupts our prior understanding it is unsettling or more.

But as we think on it, perhaps try to apply it, we marvel at how it is more helpful, effective, or true.

As we become more comfortable and competent with the new understanding it can contribute significantly to how we engage the world.

Above is a modern icon of St. Thomas the Apostle.

And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death." (1 Thomas)

We are invited to discovery and interpretation. What do these sayings mean?

Any saying depends at least as much on context and listener as on the intent of the one speaking.

Unless speaker, context, and listener are precisely calibrated meaning is always a matter of interpretation, of discernment, and of potential misunderstanding.

Someone - Jesus, Thomas, or another "he" - said that if one finds the meaning (for me? for us? for all?) he or she will not taste death.

Do I wish to avoid death? Avoiding death is a recurring theme of the Thomas Gospel. There are parallels especially in the Gospel of John (see 8:51-52). What does this mean?

These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded. (Preface to the Gospel of Thomas)

In 1945 a Coptic text of the "Gospel According to Thomas" was found in a cave at Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt. Scholars argue but many have credibly determined the text assumed its current form late in the First Century or early in the Second.

While contemporary with the synoptic gospels and John, the Thomas Gospel was lost for most of Christian history. By the Third Century Origen questioned the orthodoxy of Thomas. About 430 Philip of Side wrote, "most of the elders... completely rejected the so-called Gospel of Thomas." By the Fifth Century it had been excluded from the canon and was proscribed.

For 1500 years these words were unread. Despite the assertion that these are "secret sayings" many of the words are quite similar to what we know from the canonical gospels. The differences and additions of Thomas can, at least, provoke us to hear the well-known words with new ears.

Unlike the four accepted gospels, Thomas is not a narrative. Rather it is a collection of 114 sayings or short dialogues. The lack of context can either complicate or simplify understanding mostly depending on our own predispositions.

An Apostle Thomas is referenced in the canonical gospels. His given name was Jude or Judas. Thomas means "twin" in Hebrew. Didymus means twin in Greek. The appellation was especially important to distinguish this Judas from the other who had betrayed Jesus.