The Atheist

This week we meet Thomas. As in the Biblical Doubting Thomas, who had some concerns about The Resurrection. 

Like a lot of us, Thomas raced into adulthood and left his youth behind. Including his religious upbringing. He sought new frontiers and new philosophies everywhere he turned.  

But now he’s older, in his late forties, the father of three young children. And suddenly wondering about those things he left behind. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the ten Minute Storyteller. That's me Bill Simpson,
your host, narrator, and author. We hear at the ten
minute Storyteller endeavor to entertain you with tall tales or
rendered swiftly and with the utmost empathy. We pledge to

(00:25):
pack as much entertainment, emotion, and exploration into the human
condition as ten minutes will permit many novels on steroids.
This week we meet Thomas, as in the biblical doubting Thomas,
who had some concerns about the resurrection. Like a lot

(00:48):
of us, Thomas raced into adulthood and left his youth behind,
including his religious upbringing. He sought new frontiers and new
philosophies everywhere he turned. But now he's a little older,
in his late forties, the father of three young children,

(01:10):
and suddenly wondering about all those things he left behind.
The atheist he was not so long ago, a devout
atheist with no room in his heart for God or
for Jesus. He had little room for anything but existential

(01:31):
pursuits and of course money. He was, after all, an American,
a Midwesterner, raised on beef, white bread, whole mill hard work.
The parables of the Old Testament and the fantasies of
the New. Thomas may have come to New York for
grad school, become a vegetarian and a cynic and an intellectual,

(01:54):
rejected God and Lutheranism as superstitions of the frightened and ignorant.
But still he is at least partly who he once was. Finally,
in his early forties, he married for love, sure, though
maybe more because she was passive of nature, well employed,

(02:15):
and yes, okay, he was sick and tired of shopping
and cooking and cleaning and dating and lying awake in
the wee hours of the morning, imagining himself all alone
at sixty and seventy and eighty. The love, the real thing,
the genuine article, finally arrives one hot, late summer morning,

(02:36):
in the guise of a little seven pound, three ounce
baby girl. Thomas stands close by and watches the birth,
which comes naturally after some amount of toil and distress.
Wide eyed and breathless, he is as the miracle unfolds
right before his eyes. Soon after, he holds her in

(02:57):
his arms for the first time in tears of joy
and wonder comes streaming down his cheeks. Two more youngins
arrive in short order, a son and another daughter, and
then a move to the suburbs with a two car
garage and a backyard and a patio with a brand
new Weber Spirit grill. And after much discussion and no

(03:19):
small amount of consternation, Thomas agrees to have the kids baptized.
It'll make my parents happy, his wife says. And though
he wants to say, I don't really give a damn
what makes your parents happy, he doesn't say it. He
doesn't say a word. Instead, he follows the only piece

(03:41):
of marital advice his father gave him. When your dander's up, Son,
when your dander's up and you're really wondering why you
thought she was the one, count slowly to ten before
you open your trap. After the baptism, he exchanges few
words with the minister. Thomas thanks to minister and says

(04:04):
he'd been brought up a Lutheran but had years ago
rejected the basic tenets of Christianity as outdated, controlling and superstitious.
The minister just smiles and says, I guess it was
your wife who wanted the children baptized. Thomas nods, and
the minister smiles again and adds, we get a lot

(04:24):
of that, lots of non believers these days. I don't
really think it's a matter of believing or not believing,
says Thomas. I mean, come on, come on, rev. These
Young Earth creationists and their five thousand year old earth,
the virgin birth, wine into water, the resurrection, I mean,
come on. Reverend Harold nods he's heard these concerns many

(04:50):
times before, and after a moment, he says, a few
fantastic acts give our story pizzazz, and then there are
our basic tenants which give our story substance. I talk
of course, of faith and salvation, the Holy Trinity, and
God's omnipotence. Thomas smirks, you talk of all the things

(05:13):
that turned me against religion. Reverend Harold takes a deep breath,
and then another, and his smile returns, and he says, so,
toss all of that out, Thomas. Toss it all out,
all of the fantasy stuff, and all the devotions to
a God who may or may not exist. Toss it
all away, right out the window. And I say, you

(05:35):
can still be a good Christian now. Over the minister's shoulder,
Thomas sees his wife packing up the three kids. She's
ready to roll, and her body language is telling him
it's time to come help. But still, he says to
the minister, I don't see how you can be a

(05:55):
good Christian without carrying around all that baggage. That's to
a reverend. Harold takes Thomas by the forearm, gives it
a little gentle squeeze, and says, Christianity is something that
happened later, years, even decades after Jesus' death. In his lifetime,

(06:16):
Jesus was just a man who walked the earth, who
never ventured more than a few miles from the place
of his birth. His message was simple, and I think
it's a message we can still embrace and if we do.
If we do, we can all be good and decent Christians.
Thomas's wife is giving him the eye now, and the

(06:39):
message is he asks the reverend, well, you know, Thomas,
you learned the basic pillars in Sunday School when you
were five and six and seven years old. Love, forgiveness, generosity, compassion, humility.
There are others, of course, but this core five embraced
is all we need to contented through this life and

(07:02):
give us the credo to treat others with kindness, and respect.
Thomas considers this, and after a moment he nods, and
then I have to go. My wife needs help. But
I would like to talk about this some more, of course,
says Reverend Harold, anytime, anytime you'd like. On the way

(07:24):
home in the minivan, all three kids strapped into their
car seats and his wife busy entertaining them, Thomas one
by one considers the pillars upon which stand the foundation
of the world's largest religion. Love, forgiveness, generosity, compassion, humility. Damn,

(07:48):
he mutters, what is it? She asks, Oh, it's nothing,
he answers, just thinking about something I need to do. Well.
He's beyond fifty now and is really trying to be
a good husband, a kind and loving father, an amusing friend,
a helpful son. So much of what he used to
believe now seems so narcissistic and self righteous, and that's

(08:15):
when the atheist realizes the obvious. He just wants to
be a decent Christian. At the stop sign, he turns,
squeezes his wife's hand and says, I love you. She
beams and returns the salutation. Tears well up in his
eyes as he drives his family safely home. Thanks for

(08:48):
listening to this original audio presentation of the Atheist narrated
by the author. If you enjoy today's story, please take
a few seconds to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast,
and then go to Thomas Williamsimpson dot com for additional
information about the author and to view his extensive canon.

(09:12):
The Ten Minute Storyteller is produced by Andrew Bigleasi and
Josh Klani and as part of the Elvis Duran Podcast
Network in partnership with iHeart Productions. Until next time, this
is Bill Simpson, your ten Minute Storyteller.