{"id":365,"date":"2010-09-14T09:01:59","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T09:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html"},"modified":"2010-09-14T09:01:59","modified_gmt":"2010-09-14T09:01:59","slug":"what-question-would-you-ask-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html","title":{"rendered":"What Question Would You Ask God?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"questionmark.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

We’ve entered a
\nnew phase in our family life. Penny has started to ask questions. When we pick
\nPeter up from the train, she’ll say, “How was your day, Dad?” Or when she meets
\nsomeone new she’ll say, “Hi. What’s your name?” And of course there is the ever-present
\nchildhood question, “Why?” I hear that one about every other minute. <\/p>\n

Even though the
\n“why” questions exhaust me, I know I should be encouraged by Penny’s
\ninquisitiveness. Learning to ask questions is a part of growing up. For adults,
\nalmost every time we greet one another we do so using a standard question: “How
\nare you?” Most people ask dozens of questions every day, questions that range
\nfrom those intended to gather simple facts to the ones that inquire of our
\nsouls. We ask questions when we need help or information. We ask questions when
\nwe’re confused. We ask about mundane things: What’s the weather forecast? What
\nare we having for dinner? We ask more personal questions when we care about
\ngetting to know someone better: How’s work? How’s your family? And we ask,
\nperhaps with less frequency, more profound questions: Why do I exist? Is there
\nany purpose to life? Questions serve two basic purposes: they gain information
\nand they build relationships.<\/p>\n

When Jesus walked
\nthe earth, he asked questions all the time, and people asked him questions all
\nthe time. Here’s a list of some of the questions people asked Jesus: How do
\nyou know me? Don’t you care if we drown? What is truth? Are you the one that
\nwas to come? How can we know the way?<\/i> The fact that other people routinely
\nasked Jesus questions suggests that they realized that he was someone to help
\nclear up their confusion about life; someone who could give them vital
\ninformation; someone who cared about their well-being. <\/p>\n

And consider some of the questions that Jesus
\nasks people: Do you want to get well? Why are you troubled? Who do you say
\nthat I am? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?<\/i> The
\nfact that Jesus asked questions of others suggests that he wanted to engage in
\nconversation, not simply dictate his perspective on life. <\/p>\n

For the next few
\nmonths on Tuesday mornings, I’m going to take a look at one of these places in
\nthe Gospels, either where people ask questions of Jesus or where he asks
\nquestions of those around him. The God of the Bible is not a God who commands
\nus to accept His existence without question or silences us when we have doubts,
\nfears, and concerns. Rather, the God of the Bible, and His Son Jesus Christ,
\ninvites relationship, invites questions, invites exploration. I hope these reflections
\nwill provide a way to look at a God who permits us, even invites us, to ask
\nquestions still. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve entered a new phase in our family life. Penny has started to ask questions. When we pick Peter up from the train, she’ll say, “How was your day, Dad?” Or when she meets someone new she’ll say, “Hi. What’s your name?” And of course there is the ever-present childhood question, “Why?” I hear that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-family"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Question Would You Ask God? - Thin Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Question Would You Ask God? - Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’ve entered a new phase in our family life. Penny has started to ask questions. When we pick Peter up from the train, she’ll say, “How was your day, Dad?” Or when she meets someone new she’ll say, “Hi. What’s your name?” And of course there is the ever-present childhood question, “Why?” I hear that…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-14T09:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/questionmark-thumb-200x200-17841.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"amyjuliabecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Question Would You Ask God? - Thin Places","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Question Would You Ask God? - Thin Places","og_description":"We’ve entered a new phase in our family life. Penny has started to ask questions. When we pick Peter up from the train, she’ll say, “How was your day, Dad?” Or when she meets someone new she’ll say, “Hi. What’s your name?” And of course there is the ever-present childhood question, “Why?” I hear that…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html","og_site_name":"Thin Places","article_published_time":"2010-09-14T09:01:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/questionmark-thumb-200x200-17841.jpg"}],"author":"amyjuliabecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html","name":"What Question Would You Ask God? - Thin Places","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/questionmark-thumb-200x200-17841.jpg","datePublished":"2010-09-14T09:01:59+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-14T09:01:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#\/schema\/person\/4dde10eee38770361dc9b46a9413776b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/questionmark-thumb-200x200-17841.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/questionmark-thumb-200x200-17841.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/what-question-would-you-ask-god.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Question Would You Ask God?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/","name":"Thin Places","description":"Amy Julia Becker on Faith, Family, and Disability","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#\/schema\/person\/4dde10eee38770361dc9b46a9413776b","name":"amyjuliabecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/222\/2222023dcae76abe6e896a3cf80e9836x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/222\/2222023dcae76abe6e896a3cf80e9836x96.jpg","caption":"amyjuliabecker"},"description":"Amy Julia Becker writes about theology, disability, family, and culture. Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}