On our recent trip to Los Angeles I was able to put the promise to the test, and sure enough when we arrived at the hotel after a long flight, we were very efficiently ushered to a separate desk and checked in immediately, thus avoiding the long queue. Another benefit the clerk at the desk assured me was that our room was to be in a special ‘quiet zone’ in the hotel reserved exclusively for guests of the loyalty scheme. In truth we were so tired after our flight that I was oblivious to any noise as my head hit the pillow.

The next morning a little more alert, as I went down to the lobby of the hotel I saw the notice at the entrance to our floor, and seeing was believing! The notice read “This is a quiet zone. No children, leisure groups, marching bands or circus animals will be assigned to this area”.

The first three categories I could understand, but what sort of hotel allows circus animals into the rooms? You had to see the sign to believe it.

When Jesus met with Thomas following the resurrection, he understood Thomas’s difficulty that sometimes unless we see something for ourselves, for what it is, it is hard to take it in, and he said to Thomas “You believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” It wasn’t that he was critical of Thomas, just faith produces its own blessing.

PS If there are those who don’t believe me about the sign at the hotel, I do have a photo as evidence!