Daily Devotion - Thursday, October 13

Questions and Answers

This week our devotions focus on the significance of taking time
to continue development of spiritual awareness.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
--A song from an ancient seeker

Thursday: Letting Questions Live

Have you taken the time to examine the purpose behind most any question you ask of another person? Generally speaking, we ask because we are expecting an answer. If not an answer, then a reasonable explanation; if not a reasonable explanation then hopefully a meaningful dialogue.

Because of the way we are trained in the educational arena, we hear a question and react with an answer. Often our answers are given based on personal experience. Often our personal experience is simply a repetition of a previous personal experience. Therefore we give answers to questions without truly understanding the present moment.

It seems to me that the best thing in life is the question, far more than the answer. The question needs to be honored as the “living thing.” The wise person is generally not the one with the answer. The wise person is the person who is sensitive to the moment; is sensitive to the other person’s needs; and is uninfluenced by any residue from the experience of the past.

One of the most valuable traits we can develop is the trait of simply being present with another person, allowing their questions to be honored more than answered. To let the question live is a very important way of letting the other person know they are loved.

I pray that you will have a good day.

A Prayer: Holy God, fill me with quietness, allowing questions to live. Amen.

--Ben Keckler
10.13.11