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SearchPain and Joy Cannot be Told Apart
Thomas spent a lonesome week alone with himself in the hills around about Olivet. During this
time he saw only those at Simon‘s house and John Mark. It was about nine o‘clock on Saturday,
April 15, when the two apostles found him and took him back with them to their rendezvous at
the Mark home. The next day Thomas listened to the telling of the stories of the Master‘s various
appearances, but he steadfastly refused to believe. He maintained that Peter had enthused them
into thinking they had seen the Master. Nathaniel reasoned with him, but it did no good. There
was an emotional stubbornness associated with his customary doubtfulness, and this state of
mind, coupled with his chagrin at having run away from them, conspired to create a situation of
isolation which even Thomas himself did not fully understand. He had withdrawn from his
fellows, he had gone his own way, and now, even when he was back among them, he
unconsciously tended to assume an attitude of disagreement. He was slow to surrender; he
disliked to give in. Without intending it, he really enjoyed the attention paid him; he derived
unconscious satisfaction from the efforts of all his fellows to convince and convert him. He had
missed them for a full week, and he obtained considerable pleasure from their persistent
attentions.
They were having their evening meal a little after six o‘clock, with Peter sitting on one side of
Thomas and Nathaniel on the other, when the doubting apostle said: ―I will not believe unless I
see the Master with my own eyes and put my finger in the mark of the nails.‖ As they thus sat at
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supper, and while the doors were securely shut and barred, the morontia Master suddenly
appeared inside the curvature of the table and, standing directly in front of Thomas, said: