In honor of the day:
Is it right to pay taxes? Is it worth paying them?
What is your tax money used for? Do you know? If you don’t, what do you imagine it’s used for?
Would you rather pay higher taxes than you do now and get better government services, or pay no taxes at all but have no government services?
After an accidental hiatus, the tough questions return!
Do we respect children?
Do we listen to them? Should we? All the time?
Do we teach children about practical limits, or do we create those limits by teaching them?
Do we let our children grow up?
Everyone’s heard about the “death tax” and “death panels.” More people believe in “climate change” than in “global warming.” And it seems like half the debates in this country involve someone saying, “I’m the real victim here.” Framing and labeling thus have enormous power.
Are there labels that cause a knee-jerk emotional reaction for you? How true are those labels?
What words are guaranteed to make you angry? To make you scared? How might those words be used against you?
Labels and framing can provide us with mental shortcuts. What labels would you prefer to stop using, if you could?
There are many big issues and questions swirling in the world today. Who asks those questions? Who decides what those issues will be? What’s in it for them? What’s in it for us?
When was the last time you were thirsty? What did you do about it?
Have you ever been thirsty over a long-term period?
Have you ever made anyone else thirsty? (Think systemically.)
In the Quaker tradition, a query is a tough question or questions that are intended to provoke hard thinking. If it’s a good query, there are no easy answers. Be forewarned that as these queries can touch on difficult subjects, you and others may encounter painful topics. Be aware of this for your own sake and the sake of others. The terms “you,” “we,” “yours,” and “our” may be used indiscriminately throughout. Interpret them as you choose. If you feel moved to respond, go ahead and put your answers (or your beginnings of an answer) in the comments.
What’s your first reaction when you hear the word “Christian”?
What’s your first reaction when you hear “Muslim” or “Islam”?
What’s your first reaction when you hear “Buddhist”?
What does this tell you?
(Prior Weekly Queries can be found by clicking on the relevant tag below this post.)
Friends, I’ve written an article on the state of young Quakers over at Western Friend, the West Coast-region magazine for the Religious Society. It would warm the editor’s heart if more traffic came through, so I’d encourage you to check it out.
Should you be arriving here because you read my article there, welcome! There’s a recap that I hope can serve as an introduction, a few posts down.
And it’s been a while, so here’s a Weekly Query.
“Do I not destroy my enemies if I make them my friends?” — Abraham Lincoln
How do we reach out to those who oppose us, fight us, hate us, and fear us? Can we make them and their ideas welcome in our lives?
What about those people who simply annoy or irritate us? Can we also make them welcome?
No posts ready this week, but here’s some questions for you:
What has been good news lately? What is hopeful?
What has made you laugh in the past 24 hours?
After a long hiatus, the Weekly Query returns!
What’s your favorite story?
Does it have a conflict?
is the conflict resolved violently, or involving violence, including violence of word or threat?
Was the violence presented as the only way to solve the conflict?
How many other stories can you think of are similar, especially children’s stories?
The Weekly Query is a series of tough questions that I’ve run into or thought up. There are no right answers, and while you can give your thoughts or responses in the comments below, the queries are largely intended to provoke hard thinking, not answers. This practice is borrowed from the Quaker tradition, as I explain every week… Be forewarned that as these are on difficult subjects, you and others may encounter painful topics. Be aware of this for your own sake and the sake of others. The terms “you,” “we,” “yours,” and “our” may be used indiscriminately throughout. Interpret them as you choose.
Which of your activities is the highest? Meaning, what do you do frequently that is most important, most uplifting, kindest, most generous, or most admirable?
Which of your activities is the lowest?
After the holiday hiatus, I’m back.
The Weekly Query is a series of tough questions that I’ve run into or thought up. There are no right answers, and while you can give your thoughts or responses in the comments below, the queries are largely intended to provoke hard thinking, not answers. This practice is borrowed from the Quaker tradition, as I explained here. Be forewarned that as these are on difficult subjects, you and others may encounter painful topics. Be aware of this for your own sake and the sake of others. The terms “you,” “we,” “yours,” and “our” may be used indiscriminately throughout. Interpret them as you choose.
The word “aspiration” comes from the same root word as “spirit.” What aspirations do we have for the coming year?
What blessings from the past year are we glad to take with us into the new?
The Generous Grasp 