The poet Rilke has his famous line when he urges the young man he is writing to to "live the questions." To not look for answers just yet, but to live the questions now, in a way that you gradually live into the answer.
I've always liked this quote, because it is so process-oriented, so gentle in its way, so tolerant of mystery and unfolding. There are some questions in our lives that need this kind of breathing room.
Then there are other questions that go right for the jugular, like that classic question from the coaching/counseling profession: "What are you tolerating?" I did not last long as a coaching client years ago, mainly because of the take-no-prisoners questions the process used. I no doubt needed a close look at the myriad things I was tolerating, but I wasn't yet ready to be that honest in my answers. Questions: There's the whole question of timing!
How about you? Are there times in your life -- or in the church year -- when you find yourself living with, perhaps wrestling with, some key questions? Jesus asked plenty of them: "Who do you say that I am?" "What are you looking for?" "Do you want to be well?" These, and many more, are complicated, nuanced, mirror-in-your face questions.
Still deep in Easter, we may have many questions about our faith, our church, our beliefs. For the next two weeks, the Sunday 1:30 Adult Education class welcomes Dr. Michael Brown to talk about all manner of core questions in the life of faith, using his book "Bottom Line Beliefs" as well as the questions that are on your hearts from your own journey. Don't miss this chance to live the questions at Marble.
(If you can't make it in person, please join us through live streaming video -- click here Sunday at 1:30pm/ET)
And in the meantime, pick a question to live into. You know the one. The one you're avoiding. The one that is the Easter stone you need to roll away. The one that wants to dance with you. Let the answers come, in time, from the dancing. |