LOVING THE QUESTIONS

"Teacher," the man said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

-Luke 10:25

"...have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language..."

- Ranier Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Someone once asked their rabbi, "Why is it that rabbis always answer a question with another question?"  The rabbi answers, "So what's wrong with a question?"

Jesus was typical of the rabbis of his day.  He rarely gave a straight answer to a question.  Instead, he responded with another question or told a story.  Rather than "telling" his disciples what to think, Jesus invited them to deeper and deeper levels of ambiguity and consequently, the joy of the journey of discovery.  For the most part, I think Jesus avoids giving answers, especially when those answers lie within our hearts waiting to be discovered. 

I believe, as a Jewish mystic, Jesus understood what the wisest of spiritual guides have also understood: that answers can provide a false sense of security and confidence that can become barriers to an awareness of the Divine."

I'm reflecting this week on the possibility that perhaps the faith journey isn't so much about getting all the answers but instead is one designed to equip us for living in peace for the sake of the questions.