The Dunce
There was once a Priest, a Zen master, and a Rabbi, who met up, all together, in a religious symposium once.
It was a conference to explore the differences in each religion, and to help each participant to understand the other religion’s thinking. It was aimed at making the practitioners of each religion more tolerant of other religions.
The host, or the Conference chairman, was a lady, called, Sue Houndsteeth.
After she had given the assembled crowd her opening remarks, she looked quizzingly at her audience.
She then asked each participant in the audience, if they had one question that they could ask God, what would it be?
The priest simply asked, “Who, and what, are you God?”
(This is the old Priest, who still was a bit lost in his doubts about God, at times, in his life)
The Rabbi asked, “Why am I me, though, God, and not the Priest, for example?”
And the Zen master’s questions was, “Why is God not really God, but really me, in disguise?”
(The Zen master asked his question, because his thinking was, if all was really one, he, the Zen master must really be God too.)
(The Rabbi asked his question because his thinking was really, does God play favourites, and chooses some people to be certain special personages for him.)
(The Priest had always had his doubts about God. He wanted his doubts cleared up now, one way or the other.)
(This is the Zen Master, at one with himself, and God, during his meditation sessions.)
Then the host, Sue, said that there was a young boy at the back, representing the youth in that town.
“The future of religions, at the heart of the matter, really centres around the ideas of our current youth, ”
Sue told her gathered throng.
So, Sue then asked this youth, of only around fourteen years of age, what his question would be.
The boy said,
“I have no questions for God, but I always answer his questions to me.”
Perhaps then, this boy was the only one who could hear God’s voice. If we are too busy asking questions of God, we will often not hear his answers, let alone, his own questions to ourselves.
(This is the thoughtful boy who listens to God’s questions of himself)
God asks us more questions than we could ever ask him.
Everything that we do, God, asks us a question first, before we do that.
Is it right? Is it kind? Is it true? Is it loving? Is it judgemental? Will, it hurt anyone? Would, I God, approve of such an action?
These are amongst the types of questions that God, himself, asks us before we are about to do, say, or experience something in our lives. God always does this.
“Do we ever listen to God’s questions to us then?”,
is what the boy’s answer was saying.
Perhaps, the boy’s honest, forthright reply was better than all of the other questions asked of God, that day.
What really opens doors for us?
The question, or the answer, or neither of these two options.
Perhaps, it is only the key to the door, that we already have inside of us.
The question might sometimes help us to find where it is, the wrong answer, sometimes might just cover it over more.
Only God can tell us where he placed our own key within us. This is his purpose for us for being, for us living this life here for him.
Photo Credit: The photos used in this article were all sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
