“I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.” Elie Wiesel – Night
I came across this quote recently and it reminded me that my constant quest to have things make sense to this pea-brained human is driven by the desire to have answers – answers to questions I posit and which may not even be the right questions. Having the right answer is great, yes, but it is equally, if not more important, to have the right question. I recently queried my phone on how to get from Point A to Point B and it promptly gave me directions and told me that it would take me about an hour. Since it was only thirty minutes to my appointed meeting time, that did not make me happy – but then I realized my phone was giving me walking directions, not driving directions. I had the right answer to the wrong question. I might know that three is the square root of nine, but if I am hungry and my question is “Where can I get a quick breakfast?” that answer is of little use to me. Thinking down this path, when someone upsets or disappoints me in some way, perhaps trying to discern the perfect way to get even is not as useful as the more compassionate question of “I wonder what has __ upset today?” or perhaps the more appropriate one “I wonder what I just did to piss __ off?”
Questions, not answers?
It occurs to me... 