Thursday, September 17, 2009

Questions

The search engine, Google, does what we love to do. It searches for answers to our questions. As "can do" people, we love nice tidy answers. We are embarrassed if we don't have answers, right answer. We hesitate to say anything unless we have the right answer. We test to younger members of our society to give back the right answers. It is not surprising that, when we go to church, we get sermons and classes that sum up all of eternity in 3 or 4 bullet points.

 

Jesus wasn't much into bullet points. Maybe this was because he knew life was richer and more complicated that reading USA Today. Jesus love to tell stories and he love to be Eastern in his mind – being a "both/and" person rather than an "either/or." "Both/and?" The Kingdom of Heaven is now AND later. Jesus is human AND divine. We are combinations of Good AND Evil. God unleashes justice AND mercy.

 

Part of this Godly line of though or heart is this. Good questions are every bit as valuable and good answers. In fact, good questions may be better. Answers often involve memory but little heart. A good question can only come from the heart, a heart that grasps the enormity, the breadth, of the situation. Rabbis loved the student who engaged in questions.

 

Am I happy having all the answers? Am I ashamed that I don't have more answers? Do I question my assumptions? Am I happy to pass on the "answers" of others without questioning them myself? Have I explored my convictions and asked them questions? May you have a troubling day.



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