Good morning, friends. How are you? I ask because I care and I want to know (so feel free to answer in the comments, if you find your soul wanting to respond). I also ask because this week, we’re talking about “questions that change us”; and even one so everyday and seemingly innocuous as “How are you?” can have the power to change us – if we are really asking, and willing to receive (and let ourselves be changed by) the answer. I think we know this. Which is why we tend instead to treat “How are you?” as a greeting, a question that isn’t really being asked. Since it is a culturally accepted way of saying “hello” in passing or in a group, we don’t always answer in a way that connects with our inner world. “Good,” “tired,” “fine,” “busy,” become ways of not-answering a question that may feel too intimate, depending who’s asking. But what if really asking and/or really answering that question could be an everyday transformative moment? Perhaps you begin by only answering it for yourself, in your journal, or to God. But what if the next person that asks you that question really wants to know? What does that bring up for you? What would it change if you answered honestly? How might it connect you to another person? How might it give you a glimpse into your own soul (that you might not have taken, had they not asked)? What would it look like for you to be the one sincerely asking the question? What does *that* bring up in you? We will be talking about lots of different kinds of questions that change us this week – and some that even changed the course of history! – but to begin, sit with this simple (not-so-simple) question: *How are you?*

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2021-07-19 14:04:52 UTC