Faith When You Have Honest Questions

Somewhere along the way many people learn that questions are dangerous. So the questions go underground, and what looks like steady faith is often just a very quiet unease.

Bring them into the light. Write the actual question in the actual words you would use with a friend — not the polished version. Unspoken doubt grows; spoken doubt can be examined.

Sort them into two piles. Some questions are intellectual and have been asked for centuries; there is good, careful thinking available and you are allowed to go read it. Others are wounds wearing a question's clothing — those need a person, not an argument.

Keep practising while you think. You do not have to resolve everything before you are allowed to pray, serve or show up. Understanding often arrives after continued practice, not before it.

And find one person who will not flinch. Not to be corrected by — to be accompanied by. The presence of someone who can hold your question without panic does more than most answers.

Wherever you are in the process — first week or thirty years in — honest questions belong on the journey. They are usually a sign that you are taking it seriously.