Can we talk?

Questions

Life is full of questions. Like "Why?" and "Are we there yet?". We learn to ask questions early on. No one has to teach a child to ask questions. It comes naturally. Anyone working with children, as a parent, a babysitter, or teacher has heard questions such as "What's inside your arm?" as the child rubs your elbow.

As we get older, we hear even more repeated questions like "Are you serious?", "You expect me to believe that?", and "What kind of a fool do you think I am?". (Parents should never ask that last one to a teenager.) And, of course, the ever popular "If someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?".

Then there are questions to start an argument or a battle: "Are you going out dressed like that?", "Honey, does this dress make me look fat?", or "Oh, is that what you think?" There are questions we can't get away from, like "Want to buy a box of Girl Scout Cookies?". And ominous quesions, like the cop asking "How fast do you think you were going?" There are questions we have to ask, like "Can you fix it?" and "How much will it cost me?"

We encounter life altering quesions, like "Which job should I take?", "Which college should I go to?", "Will you marry me?".
Most of us, but not all, ask the meaty questions like, "What is life about?", "What difference does my life make?", "Is there life after death?", "Why do we have to die?", "Is this the course my life should be taking?".

When misfortune comes our way, and it surely will, we question "Why did this have to happen to me?", or "Why did my saintly grandmother have such terrible suffering?", or "Why do poor, innocent children have to suffer?". "Why did this person close to me have to suffer or die?". As challenges are thrown at us, we find we don't have enough time or strength to handle them all. So we have to prioritize with questions like "Is this urgent but not important?", "Is this important but not urgent?", or "Is it urgent and important?", or "Is it neither?". Our days and mental energy can then be put to better use.

We use questions to fathom the unfathomable.We probe life's mysteries with questions. Unfortunately, many adults don't ask enough questions or don't ask any at all. The sign of an active mind is the number of questions we ask. At every stage of life, we should ask, "Is my life worth living?". We'll never have an answer that's once and for all and settles it forever, so we keep on asking, keep on seeking. Maybe some people die inside when they quit asking questions. To be fully alive is to be full of questions. Keep on asking questions about life and death, humanity, goodness, right, truth, work and art. And God.Regardless of your belief or your unbelief, just ask questions.