Excellent essay and a great topic to ponder. My spiritual director also considers himself a Thomas. Hans Urs von Balthasar argues that most Christians tend to most often follow the paths of one of the three we most often hear about: Peter (the traditional leader bringing order to a disordered world), Paul (the preacher/teacher) focused on hearing/sharing the Word or John, the beloved mystic most focused on the heart (like many artists/writers, etc).