The word doubt finds its origin in the Latin word, dubious. It is a good word. If this were an elementary English class, the teacher might ask us to use the word “dubious” in a sentence. To be dubious is to be uncertain; it is to lack trust; it is to disbelieve. We are uncertain about our ability; we lack trust in other people; we disbelieve a fact or a numerical figure. Simply put, we doubt.

            In the gospel, the disciple named Thomas doubted. He wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to his brothers the first time. Upon coming home, they tell him “we have seen the Lord.” His responds with doubt, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

            Thomas’s doubt is understandable. But doubt can be confronted and restored.

            Julio Diaz was a 31-year old social worker, who had a routine.  Every day, he rode the train into the inner city from the Bronx, and every day, he got off the train one stop early, so he could eat supper at his favorite diner.

            But one night last month, he got off his train at his regular stop onto an empty platform, and his evening was not routine. As he walked up the subway stairs towards the stars, a teenager with a knife approached him. The teenager demanded his wallet, so Diaz gave it to him. 

            As the teen began to walk away, Diaz said, “Hey, wait a minute; you forgot something. If you are robbing me, you may as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

            The robber looked at his would- be-victim and said, “What’s going on here?” Diaz said, “Why are you doing this? If you are risking your freedom for a few dollars, then you must really need the money. All I want to do is go to supper, so you may as well go with me.”

            As the teenager sat in the booth with Diaz at the diner, the manager, the dishwasher, and the waiters came by to say hello to him. The kid said, “Everyone knows you here. Do you own the place?” “No, I just eat here a lot.” “But you are even nice to the dishwasher,” the kid said. “Well, weren’t you taught be nice to people?” “Yeh, but I did not know that people really acted that way,” the kid said.

            Then Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. The teen just sat there with a sad face, unable to respond.

            When the check arrived, Diaz said, “I guess you will have to pay the bill because you have my money, and I can’t pay for it. Give me my wallet back, and I will gladly treat you.”

The teen didn’t know what to think. So he gave the wallet back, and Diaz gave him a $20. He figured that he could use it.

            But then Diaz asked him for something in return – the teen’s knife – and the teen gave it to him.

            When Diaz got home, he told his mother what had happened. His mother said, “if someone asked for your watch, you would probably give it to them.”

Diaz said, “I figure that if you treat people right, you can only hope that they will treat you right. It is as simple as it gets in a complicated world.”