Our dog turns from a lazy porch hound to a laser-focused ninja when her orange rubber frisbee comes out of the drawer. She knows that we’re going for a walk, and when we throw it, she can snap that thing right out of the air, several feet off the ground. When we get home, she’ll carry it around all day. It’s her prized possession.
Many of us have questions we carry around with us. A deep wonder that make us perk up when we come across it again. We’ll chase after it and hold tightly to it. The right question can change the whole course of our conversations, and a powerful question can change a life. Questions have a deep, transformative ability to reframe the way we see and engage with the world around us. What question do you hold onto and come back to over and over again?
Right now our two year old is learning that every question might be a doorway to a whole new experience. Do you want to try cotton candy? Have you ever seen a gopher before? Would you like to hear a funny song? She jumps into every opportunity in the fun ways that young children do. Our questions come as gentle offers of new experiences, and her wide-eyed moments of discovery become our joy.
But the questions we need to ask as adults have to strike us at a deeper and more transformative level if we’re to grow in a new way. Jesus knew that questions were powerful. His simple questions shaped the lives of his followers and creatively turned over the assumptions of his detractors. His questions were not meant to stump or hang as mysteries in the air. Jesus’ questions were meant to nudge the people he engaged with. They were to land, to get at the heart of an issue, challenge egos and comfort fears. Jesus knew that the right question could change a life – and it did.
Sometimes we hold onto our questions so tightly that we cannot see that there are new questions to ask. For example, when we look at problems in our neighbourhoods or city, we may need to ask new questions if we want to find a better solution than the one we see. Often we ask, “what is this problem doing here, and when will someone fix it?” Instead we may need to start from a new angle. We may need to ask, “Why does my neighbourhood or city exist in the first place, what is it intended for?”
When we see our city or neighbourhood through a new set of questions, our focus turns to new opportunities. The best questions don’t just cover up a problem, or defer it, or drop it off on someone else’s lap. The best questions that healthy cities ask are those that nudge us towards the heart of our purpose, our aspirations, and the reasons for why we keep moving forward.
What new questions could we carry around like a dog with a frisbee? What questions will make us alert, excited, and ready for new adventures in our neighbourhoods? What is your frisbee question?
