Meridian, Idaho
There are some of us who like to question everything, and there are some of us who like answers for everything…
Yesterday, Rich and I were at Lowe’s and Home Depot shopping for window blinds. Oddly, half of our new home has blinds while the other half does not. 🙂 So we’re trying to match the new with the old.
Rich was getting a bit peeved at me because I kept going off topic and looking at all the new items that are now available; they weren’t when we stopped building houses eight years ago.
I’m a questioner. Some of my often used sentences end in question marks:
Why? Why Not? I wonder how…? What if…?
Rich wanted answers: Who had the best matching blinds for the best price?
I wanted to look at all the newest and coolest items to see how they worked.
That got me thinking about how many questions I asked while growing up. Lots and then lots more.
In my family, asking questions wasn’t necessarily a good thing. If we questioned, then it was perceived that we weren’t respecting authority or the Church’s teachings.
That’s not how I saw it. I saw questions as a way to learn more.
The interesting thing is that I think our kids inherited both tendencies from us. They ask questions but they also stick to task when necessary.
Are you a questioner, an answerer, or both?
PS: We got blinds at Lowe’s: best to suit our needs at the lowest price. 🙂
I am definitely an answerer. I really don’t think I questioned too much growing up. Probably another case of being left behind!!
Because you were the child left behind, Lorraine, no one would have answered your questions?
In school, I quickly learned the nuns, like Mom and Dad, did not appreciate questions so I learned to internalize the questions. I still question and try to encourage the girls too as well. On the other hand, Dan because of his Jewish upbringing was encouraged to ask questions. Rabbis love questions even challenging ones. Dan got in trouble with a first grade teacher for correcting his statement that a tomato is a fruit not a vegetable. Even though he got in trouble he still questioned his teachers. Law school is taught through the Socratic method of asking questions to lead students to think critically on their own. The same method is used for studying the Torah. That explains the high proportion of Jewish lawyers compared to the population.
That’s fascinating, Joanne! Something more to learn about. That makes sense about the Jewish faith fostering questions, but why the schism with how so many of the Christian faith discourage questions.
It is because Judaism is more of an orthoprax (sp?) religion where actions /practice are the focus. You can be an agnostic and still be Jewish and follow the laws in the Torah. Catholicism is an orthodox religion where faith is the focus. It is your belief and faith that lead you to be a good Catholic. Through faith, you will/should act like a good Christian. The reverse is the approach in Judaism.
OMG (no pun intended), Joanne. That’s fascinating. Can you recommend a good book for me to learn more about the Jewish faith?
Dan though of “The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism” by Dennis Prager & Joseph Telushkin. He may think of more or better ones. Would you like me to mail you our copy? What address?
Thanks for the recommendation, Joanne and Dan. I will buy it because I’m continually marking books up and I don’t want to ruin yours. 🙂