Life Saving Questions

Each ques­tion is a way of knock­ing on a cos­mic or meta­phys­i­cal door. I like ques­tions. I make a liv­ing ask­ing them. For all that I state and for all of the infor­ma­tion that I for­mally present, the power is in the ques­tions — not the answers. “Answers” are usu­ally lim­ited. Other than math, an answer is always some­how incom­plete. Any­thing worth pur­su­ing will ask the next ques­tion. In short, I never got out of the early child­hood mind of always ask­ing why.

Arriv­ing too soon will give one a false sense of clo­sure. The intel­lec­tual doors close. The per­son­al­ity goes rigid. The rest of life is spent defend­ing lim­ited con­cepts. What a mis­er­able way to live! Most peo­ple will defend the world­view of their early thir­ties. They get stuck. From forty on they feel like the world is going to hell in a hand bas­ket. They look back­ward instead of forward…thus los­ing perspective.

Enter the ques­tions that keep one alive: Is there more to life than what I see? How did I get so stuck? When did I trade my curios­ity for such a bland con­for­mity? How do I find the child-like inner self that opens my soul to infi­nite mys­ter­ies? How do I get out of this rut?

There are thou­sands of ques­tions. I ask them as a coun­selor, min­is­ter, philoso­pher, life-adventurer, and every­day human being. Ques­tions keep you in motion. Life at its finest is when you “ask, seek, and knock” on Jesus’ door. To live in the antic­i­pa­tion of see­ing God is to keep a cer­tain zest for liv­ing that makes each day truly new.

Where have you been? Where are you going? What do you think? How do you feel? What would you do if you won the lot­tery? What would you do dif­fer­ent if you had life to live over? What is the unlived part of your life? Is life pri­mar­ily a prob­lem or a mystery?

The art of the ques­tion equals that of the sur­geon. Ask the right ques­tion at the right time and save a person’s life. Ask your­self the ques­tions first. The life you save may be your own.