Beyond Belief
The Secret Gospel of Thomas
Chapter One
FROM THE FEAST OF AGAPE TO THE NICENE CREED
On a bright Sunday morning in February, shivering in a T-shirt and
running shorts, I stepped into the vaulted stone vestibule of the
Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York to catch my breath and warm
up. Since I had not been in church for a long time, I was startled
by my response to the worship in progress-the soaring harmonies of
the choir singing with the congregation; and the priest, a woman in
bright gold and white vestments, proclaiming the prayers in a clear,
resonant voice. As I stood watching, a thought came to me: Here is a
family that knows how to face death.
That morning I had gone for an early morning run while my husband
and two-and-a-half-year-old son were still sleeping. The previous
night I had been sleepless with fear and worry. Two days before, a
team of doctors at Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical
Center, had performed a routine checkup on our son, Mark, a year and
six months after his successful open-heart surgery. The physicians
were shocked to find evidence of a rare lung disease. Disb ... read full excerpt from Beyond Belief ebook
