“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7).
Jesus asks a lot of questions. I once read that Jesus asks over 300 questions. Often Jesus answers a question with a question. What’s up with that? Why so many questions, Jesus? Is it because questions help us to pause and to ponder? Is it because questions help us dig just a bit deeper? Is it because questions have a way of leading us to a new place in a new way?
Late last week, I was looking for a blessing to offer at a prayer retreat. I didn’t find the blessing I was looking for, but I did find a series of questions by Father John O’Donohue. He calls his questions, A Mirror of Questions, to be asked in prayer at the end of the day. These are rich questions to pray and to ponder. Give these questions a try this week and see where your soul may be stirred and strengthened.
- What dreams did I create last night?
- Where did my eyes linger today?
- Where was I blind?
- Where was I hurt without anyone noticing?
- What did I learn today?
- What did I read?
- What new thoughts visited me?
- What differences did I notice in those closest to me?
- Whom did I neglect?
- Where did I neglect myself?
- What did I begin today that might endure?
- How were my conversations?
- What did I do today for the poor and the excluded?
- Did I remember the dead today?
- When could I have exposed myself to the risk of something different?
- Where did I allow myself to receive love?
- With whom today did I feel most myself?
- What reached me today? How did it imprint?
- Who saw me today?
- What visitations had I from the past and from the future?
- What did I avoid today?
- From the evidence – why was I given this day?
Credit: John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, page 98.