We humans have known for a long time that curiosity leads to new possibilities, that asking questions leads to openness to *more*. It’s how we discover things in our world, how we learn and create. So why do so many of us fear asking questions in the context of our faith? We shut them down in ourselves, afraid of where they will “land” us. Will we have to leave something we had valued, because we discover that it is no longer life-giving—as we ask the real questions coming from our real soul? Will we have to stand up and say something we have never had the courage to, because the question—once we allow it—has a deeply resonant answer that means we can no longer stay silent, on our own behalf or on behalf of another? And the questions underneath, the fears that we might not even consciously realize are there, like: Will God leave? Will I? Will they? What if the “answers” I find turn out to be painful in some way? Would it be better just to stick with what I've always understood, and not ask all these hard questions? What will it mean about God, if I come to a conclusion that is different than before? What will it mean about me? But then there are other questions that come, too, like: Isn’t it worth it, though? To not stay “stuck” in the answers that have always been given, but to open to what *more* might be going on in the world, in the world of your soul? (Is it?) (Isn't it?) Wonder a bit with God this morning: What are the questions you have been holding—perhaps without even being aware of them? How do you feel about asking them? What are the fears tied into their asking? What about the hopes? The desires? Let them come. Let God hold them with you...and you with them.

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-11-15 14:48:36 UTC