Sunday, June 5, 2011

Why?

I've always been amused by the "Why?" questions little ones are famous for asking. 

What is even more amusing is how annoyed we adults have a tendency to become when asked this popular question incessantly. I've heard some pretty snappy retorts to those questions, uttered in frustration to hush a kid up. Been hushed up like that a few too many times to count, myself.

But what if the little ones have it right? {Imagine that.}

What if "Ask, Seek, Knock" really is a good idea? {Wait...didn't God say something about that?}

Not long ago I read a blog entry by a favorite blogger, Single Dad Laughing, in which he writes about using the why question as a tool to get to the very core of any issue one might be facing. He suggests writing down the issue, and then asking, "And why is that?", then answering that, followed by asking the question again, until the central problem comes into focus and a solution begins to emerge. He gave an example from his own journaling, and it was nothing short of brilliant.

It made me smile to think about how I will respond to the next child who asks me why.

I think I will grin and say, "To make you ask questions!"

And I will really mean it.