Questions

I recall my first few words as an 11 year old when I was attempting to learn French. “Ou est Jacques?” It was, of course where is Jacque? It was also a question. I asked lots of questions in that class, including Why do I need to do French? Is the period not finished yet? I asked them mostly in English.
When I asked a particular question in an English class at school a teacher responded sagely “Well what do you think, Wardlow?” It so annoyed me as surely their job was to give me answers and not simply reflect question back to me!
At a recent book group we hosted an author whose book we had read. I was looking forward to finding out what he had meant in a paragraph in a particular chapter. When I asked, he paused, and said “it means what you want it to mean”…… Thanks a bunch!
Questions account for so much of our daily conversations. Every day we ask questions about a range of things, some of which help us understand the world better, some of which help us find our way – either physically or emotionally and some of which are rhetorical.
Often our questions seem to fail to elicit any helpful answers.
I have been enthralled by the fast developing situation in Westminister, which has led to the resignation of the Prime Minister and I admit I was confused during some of the exchanges in PM Questions. No matter how many times questions were asked, no matter how clear and succinct they were, I found the answers often bore little relation to the question. Questions were deflected rather than addressed.
In watching the catastrophe in Ukraine, I have so many questions. Some involve Russia – “how can such violence be defensible” some involve the Russian Orthodox Patriarch “How can he justify the war?”. Some involve Ukraine “What must it feel like to witness such carnage?” The biggest questions involve God.. “How can you let this happen? When are you going to get involved?”
To date, God hasn’t given me an acceptable answer.
Just because I have faith doesn’t mean I have to live without questions or doubts. I believe that faith and doubt are my two companions on life’s journey. Questions help me negotiate between the two. Unanswered questions are just part of the creative tension of learning.
God is not diminished by my questions, indeed at the end of the dialogue I believe we have a better relationship because of the exchange. I have yet to get any satisfactory resolution to some of the big ones like how a good God permits evil, but I haven’t given up trying to get answers. That’s the nature of faith..to live in the white noise as I search for God’s answers.