If you have ever raised children, you know the persistent power of a child’s curiosity and the simple word, “Why?” If you have ever been a child (we all have!) I hope that you remember a time when the most memorable and important part of a day was to ask, “Why?”
A recent study revealed that children, on average, ask between 70 and 100 questions a day. They are curious beings determined to figure out how this world works. They seek to discover how to walk and talk; to find, prepare and eat food; and to develop relationships with the people in the world around them. Like empty sponges, they soak up everything they can from their environment. They imagine that anything is possible.
By the time we are adults, most of us have squelched our sense of curiosity. Adults ask an average of 20 questions a day, and most of them are closed questions like: What time is it? What do you want for dinner? What TV show shall we watch? Our lives are filled with scheduled activities that seldom vary from day to day and week to week. In some ways our worlds seem to shrink until there are only known people and activities, repeated many times. Some we like, and some we don’t like, but they seldom vary.
Curiosity opens up our lives, our minds and hearts, to the Infinite Possibilities beyond the limited ruts that we have worn deep through the years. Questioning everything, not to be antagonistic or only oppositional, but to understand a situation or action at its depth is one of the most powerful processes of transformation and growth. Jesus told us, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:2. KJV)
Ernest Holmes was a life-long master of asking, “Why?” His brother Guy said that Ernest’s first word was not “Mama” or Daddy” but “Why?” Although Ernest dropped out of school at age 15, he never stopped reading voraciously, choosing books from many fields and perspectives. He had in-depth conversations with world renowned experts, always fueled by his curiosity and insatiable desire to understand and explore new ideas. For Ernest, questioning everything led him to understand and experience the wisdom and love of the Universal Presence and each person’s true existence as an expression of that One Universal Presence.
Today, remember to ask, “Why?” You will discover the wondrous Life beneath the surface of every moment.
Love and light,
Rev Pam
