SOME WELL-INTENDED PONTIFICATION AS ANOTHER YEAR WINDS DOWN

More times than I can count in the past year I have been accused of pontification, but that is what I do as a writer who always tries to deliver a deeply-felt message, sometimes popular and other times no so popular.  In sharing with readers, more often than not I think things through as I write -- and perhaps selfishly, for my own benefit.  This is all by way of saying that my one New Years resolution is to steer clear of "pontification" where ever possible.  So on this last day of 2017, I indulge myself one final time.  It is going to be difficult expressing myself in the future, but we'll see.

An old Irish New Year’s toast goes like this, “May all your troubles in the coming year be as short as your New Year’s resolutions.”
 
A new calendar tells us that we have been given a fresh gift to build and change our lives. Every new year and every new day is an opportunity to get it “righter” than the day before and the year before.

Ideally, our focus and priorities must no longer be centered in the things of this earth, but on the things of a spiritual nature.  This, of course, is a very real challenge, because we still have to live in the real world, with all of its stress and struggle.

Focusing on spiritual things does not remove the stress and struggle altogether, but it certainly makes a huge difference in our ability to both survive and thrive.  As we try to live a more spiritually focused life in the new year, here are a few Bible-inspired practical priorities. Please bear with me for a few minutes, if you can spare the time.

Priority #1 - Forget About Yesterday:
The Apostle Paul wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14)

As we know, Paul was a man who had some things from his past that could haunt him if he let them. He had made some terrible mistakes that brought great suffering to others.

There is not one of us who doesn’t have something negative in our past that could immobilize us.
Failures, hurts, disappointments happen to all of us. But God, I am sure, does not want us dwelling on them.  He would rather have us come to Him for forgiveness and healing of yesterday's pain.

It is a gift that we can walk in newness of life, that we can forget those things in the past and live in the present. So that’s a good place for us to start the new year -- to forget about yesterday.

Priority #2 -- Don't worry about tomorrow: 
I know that this one is easier said than done.  Tomorrow can be so overwhelming with the potential for pain and insufficiency.

Jesus gave us this prescription, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?...So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Those words were taken from Matthew 6.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Corrie Ten Boom, who had suffered greatly in her life said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrows; it empties today of strength.” Our only hope and help is in trust and faith. Whatever we face in the new year, we will be better off if we make it a priority to forget the past, and not worry about the future.

Priority #3 - Make Today Count:
The famous funny man, Groucho Marx, said, “Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet. I have just one day - today - and I can choose how I shall be! And I choose to be happy!!” True enough, the only day we have and literally the only moment we have is now. We are not promised tomorrow, nor
even the rest of today!

Psalm 118:24 puts it this way, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Focusing on one day at a time frees us from the burden of the past, and the worry of the future.

Priority #4 - Help Every Person You Can:
When we focus all our attention on ourselves, we get lost in our struggles, but when we turn our
attention outward, we realize the tremendous blessing of helping others.  It helps to remind ourselves that every person we encounter is facing some kind of challenge, or is carrying some kind of heartache. Our own personal struggles or heartaches may be bigger or smaller than theirs, it makes no difference.

If we seek to be a blessing to those we meet, then both parties will be blessed.  Paul wrote in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  In the chapter before that one, Paul beautifully summarized the Christian life with these words, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  We tend to forget that point in coping with the rigors of today's busy and often demanding world.

As we move into this new year, let’s make it a priority to claim God’s promises and in so doing walk by faith.  And when we know that there is something we should do or change, let’s not delay in acting on the impulse.

The old Nike commercial, “Just Do It,” is a good recipe when following the inner voice that exists in all of us.

May the New Year be filled with happiness and contentment, my friend!  You deserve every bit of it.

EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY NOT KEEP THEM, MAKE SOME RESOLUTIONS

What would the arrival of another New Year be without a few words on resolutions from the old Wrighter?

Here is a list of the top 10 New Years resolutions for 2018...You know, you've probably made every one of them yourself over the years:

1 -- Lose Weight

2 -- Getting Organized

3 -- Spend Less, Save More

4 -- Enjoy Life to the Fullest

5 -- Staying Fit and Healthy

6 -- Learn Something Exciting

7 -- Quit Smoking

8 -- Help Others in Their Dreams

9 -- Fall in Love

10 -- Spend More Time with Family

Now consider the following statistics on New Years resolutions.

-- Percent of those who usually make New Year’s Resolutions -- 45%

-- Percent of those who infrequently make New Year’s Resolutions -- 17%

-- Percent of  individuals who absolutely never make New Year’s Resolutions -- 38%

-- Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution -- 8%

-- Percent of those who have infrequent success -- 49%

-- Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year -- 24%

-- People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

Rather revealing data, don't you think?

It’s well known that New Year’s resolutions don’t have a high success rate. While many people opt to ditch the annual goal-setting event, about 40 to 45 percent of adults set at least one resolution come New Year’s. Unfortunately for many, the results turn into a pattern: January 1, we start off determined to follow through on our goals. Excited and energized, we think that this year will be different from the last, when our resolutions went by the wayside. But come February or even mid-January, the majority of us have abandoned our goals altogether.

So why do we continue to make resolutions every year even though so few of us follow through?  One reason is the allure of starting from scratch. I suspect that the beginning of the year offers a fresh start and a clean slate. The idea of bettering ourselves is another motivator. “Most of us have a natural bent toward self-improvement,” said John Duffy, Ph.D, clinical psychologist and author of The Available Parent: Radical Optimism in Raising Teens and Tweens. And even though the New Year is an arbitrary date, Duffy explained that it “gives us time and a goal date to prepare for the change, to fire up for the shifts we plan to make.”

Moreover, it may have something to do with “Tradition! Tradition! Tradition,” as the characters in the musical Fiddler On The Roof famously sing. Setting New Year’s resolutions is believed to go as far back as Babylonian times. It’s said that Julius Caesar started the tradition of making resolutions on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the new year. Romans mostly made morality-based resolutions, such as seeking forgiveness from their enemies.

To my way of thinking, wanting to make resolutions is a good thing. The fact that people keep making resolutions even when they don’t always follow through ultimately means that they have hope and a certain level of belief in their ability to change and be more of who they really want to be.

Some research confirms that setting a resolution can get you closer to your goals. One study found that 46 percent of individuals who made resolutions were successful compared to four percent who wanted to achieve a certain goal and considered it but didn’t actually create a resolution.

So, statistics aside, go ahead and make some New Years resolutions in the next few days. Who knows, for once you may actually keep at least one of them if you are sufficiently motivated. If you don't, at least your intentions were good. Nothing ventured nothing gained!

And there's always another year.

Capturing your Weather December 28 2017

Christmas According to Kids - Southland Christian Church

What happens when you ask a bunch of kids to tell the story of Christmas? Enjoy this story of "Bethle-ha-ha-ham" scripted entirely by the children and the magical star that appeared. As always, kids say the darndest things!

THE LITTLE SPRUCE TREE THAT DEFIED CRITICAL JUDGEMENT

Mr. Cransdon was visibly irritated. Here it was, late Christmas Eve, and he was still frantically running around. He had just spent a frustrating morning looking desperately for last-minute gifts. Most of the afternoon he and his wife were hastily shopping for extra groceries for that large family gathering and dinner tomorrow. Now, when he should be home relaxing in the evening, Mr. Cransdon was out searching for a Christmas tree.

Katie saw her father’s annoyance and knew enough, even at age eight, to keep silent as he drove all over town through heavy holiday traffic. She did venture a whispered prayer that there might still be one tree left for sale. It was her plea for a real tree this year that sent her Dad on this 11th hour quest. Katie now felt a bit guilty for causing her father to be so frustrated. Yesterday, their old artificial one had finally fallen apart after many years of December display. “Let’s get a real one this year,” had become her hourly request until the parents reluctantly agreed.

Katie could already imagine a tall, stately spruce or pine evergreen standing proudly in its corner, strong branches festooned with sparkling icicles, winking lights, colourful glass balls and chocolate Santa Claus decorations.

The car stopped and Katie scraped away the window ice so she could peer outside. The Christmas tree lot was empty, just like all the previous other ones had been. The large wooden sign blowing in the wind still invited shoppers to select from the dozens of freshly-cut, tightly-wrapped choices. But there were no trees left to buy.

Mr. Cransdon muttered loudly and clambered out of the front seat, slamming the door behind him. Standing alone in the middle of the deserted field, he pulled his parka hood tighter against the driving snow. This was the perfect ending to a rotten day. How could he now face Katie with the bad news? Then he noticed a small trailer parked at the far end of the lot. A faint light glowed from its solitary window. Perhaps someone inside could somehow find him a tree.

Katie watched intently as her father trudged across the powdery snow and rapped on the trailer door. After a moment, she saw an old man emerge, hastily buttoning his jacket in the frigid cold. The two men talked briefly, then disappeared behind the trailer. When they reappeared, Mr. Cransdon was dragging a tree behind him. As her dad approached the car, Katie jumped out with excitement. ‘You did find us a real Christmas tree. Thank you, daddy.”

But Mr. Cransdon did not look any happier than before. Shaking the snow off his find, he held the evergreen up for her to see. “You don’t really call this a tree, do you?

He pointed to the twisted, misshapen trunk which gave the tiny spruce a badly crooked appearance. He sarcastically pulled at a withered frail branch, which instantly broke off at his touch. No wonder every other shopper had already rejected this worthless freak of nature. No wonder the salesman had offered to give it away at no cost. After all, what he couldn’t get rid of by December 25 would have to be hauled away at some expense to the town dump.

Katie then surprised her father. She insisted on taking this sorry specimen home. When he grumbled at her demand she only demanded all the louder. With a puzzled shrug of resignation, he roughly tossed the puny spruce into his trunk and quickly drove off.

Once at home, Katie set to work. Mrs. Cransdon stood transfixed at the living room entrance, amazed at her daughter’s determination to tackle this dubious reclamation project. And Katie worked as if inspired, decorating the little, unwanted tree----branch by branch, hour after hour. Just after midnight, Mr. Cransdon carried his exhausted and unprotesting child up the stairs to her bedroom. Christmas Day would come very early, as it always does in a home blessed with young children.

As the Cransdon family entered the living room, they were suddenly speechless, silent witnesses to the miracle which had unfolded overnight, the one they must have been too tired to notice before bed. The scrawny little tree suddenly looked magnificent. It glowed and sparkled and was so beautiful that no one any longer noticed those frail branches and twisted shape.

Katie was the first to recover. Approaching the tree, she gently touched her little spruce. “Look, Mom and Dad, all my tree needed was for someone to believe in it and to love it.” Her parents’ eyes moistened as they began to understand the real meaning of Christmas.

The Christmas story celebrates the birth of a baby. We tend to forget that the manger where He was born was soon empty. As the Bible describes, ”Jesus grew in wisdom and stature” and began His teaching ministry. He especially had compassion for those marginalized by society -- a tax collector, a Roman soldier, a woman caught in adultery, another divorced several times, a disabled beggar. Each responded to His non-judgmental care and compassion, and their lives were transformed. Jesus saw those whom he encountered, not only as they were, but as they could be...Just like Katie’s little spruce tree.

Christmas Blessings!

TRY LOVE IF YOU THINK YOU CAN'T "TAKE IT WITH YOU"

I am fascinated by Tyler Henry, a 20-year-old clairvoyant and star of a hit reality TV series Hollywood Medium. He was born with a unique gift that enables him to help countless people acquire closure, comfort and proof that consciousness transcends physical death. As an evidential based medium, his ability to provide detail-oriented specifics has quickly captured the attention of millions, even turning the most ardent skeptics into believers.

Tyler Henry

Tyler is articulate and knowledgeable beyond his years.  He said something, almost spontaneously, in one of his televised medium sessions with a Hollywood actress that has haunted me for some time..."In the end you cannot take religion, dogma or doctines with you when you die.  Love is the only thing that really matters and that is what you take with you when you pass over into the afterlife."

You know, as I think about it, what we have in common with all religions and empiricism today is that the afterlife does exist. But not one religion tells us what actually happens when we physically die -- empirical studies (based on actual and objective observation or experimentation) actually do, but that's another story. In the West the Christian view of the afterlife dominated for nearly two thousand years. The Church teaches that the afterlife exists and that your conduct on earth will determine what kind of existence you will experience once you cross over; you will go to 'heaven' if you 'behaved well' or to hell if you consistently misbehaved. Catholics add purgatory -- a stage of continuous purification before one gets to 'heaven.'

Highly credible transmitted information tells us that 'service' -- unselfishly helping others who are in genuine need -- is the most powerful, guaranteed way of raising your vibrations and, hence, your spirituality. Note very carefully: you do NOT have to be religious at all to raise your vibrations, i.e. to become more spiritual. As a matter of fact there are those who are atheists, agnostics and certainly non-religious who by conduct and example are very 'spiritual.' So that although religious people, God bless them, may be spiritual, some 'religious' people may NOT be so spiritual. Being religious does not automatically mean being spiritual. Religious beliefs are irrelevant to having higher vibrations. It is not what we believe but what we DO, or how we LOVE on this planet earth that will definitively determine what is going to happen to us when we inevitably cross over.

From my perspective, only our own limitations, our own prejudices, our own encumbrances will restrict the otherwise smooth transition. For these reasons at the time of crossing over we would do well to have an open mind and NOT have thoughts rigidly set on some expectations taught by uninformed dogmatists on earth.

Love we are told is 'the most powerful force in the universe.' Just because we cross over does not mean love is lost or is terminated. Love survives physical death and true love will mean you will never be separated from your loved ones. True unconditional love will usually mean unconditional forgiveness. It follows then that this will lead to a higher level of vibrations, of spirituality and will be instrumental in graduating to higher afterlife realms where conditions are too beautiful for us on earth to imagine -- certainly something to look forward to!  It's that heavenly reward we hear and read so much about.

I am still mystified, however, that a young man just out of his teens should understand all of this, especially when most young bucks his age are still occupied with cars, electronics and girls.  Communicating with the dead aside, from whence comes Tyler Henry's wisdom?  

PATRIOTISM: THE REASONED MELLOWING OF NEWT GINGRICH

Because of my interest as a journalist and occasional commentator on news of the day, I am included in a number of mailing lists from both sides of the Canada/US boarder and political spectrum.  Generally the messages are of a partisan nature, taking sides on a particular issue, typically spouting party lines -- and soliciting financial support.  More often than not I take such releases with a grain of salt.

Newton Gingrich

This morning, however, I received an impressive email message from veteran U.S. politician and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich who needs no further introduction here.  The contents were so poignant, topical and applicable to the political climate in North America that I deemed it worthy of Wrights Lane edification.

Here is what Newt had to say:

"In America, we've always had ideological clashes and honest policy debates between opposing parties. I've been engaged in them for most of my adult life.

"But there is a deeper, institutional assault underway by the extreme Left aimed at erasing our past and destroying our principles that is very different. It's a war on our culture, on faith, on the melting pot, on the Second Amendment, on free speech -- on the basic idea of America.

"I'm glad that the American Legacy Center* has decided to focus on this issue in a big way; or in its words, to 'put patriotism back on offense.' I'm glad because if we are to remain a country of citizens rather than subjects, this is necessary and vital...

"As Americans, we are not defined by our race, our religion, our class, or our place of birth. We are defined by a belief in a simple creed, which states that we are all created equal, and endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.

"This creed must be taught to every generation using every possible medium. Unfortunately, too many of our schools are failing to do this, so we as citizens must pick up the slack.

"We need to explain why identity politics will only serve to poison the traditional vision of a melting pot; why religious faith is essential to liberty; why the Second Amendment is about protecting individual liberty, not hunting; and why the thought police are a threat to free speech and expression. These are fundamental principles on which we cannot compromise."

NOTE: Gingrich's controversial personal and political life aside, I do not think that there is even one American or Canadian citizen (Left or Right) who could not honestly agree with the context and premise of his message on this occasion.  Crassly outspoken and gruff in the past, he seems to have softened his demeanor and patronage with age.

Further note of interest: *As a nonprofit, The American Legacy Centre does not endorse or contribute to political candidates. While the Centre regularly weighs in on the positions and records of certain candidates and elected officials, resources do not directly support anyone’s election or defeat.

OH COME ON NOW...WE'RE ALL A LITTLE WEIRD AND YOU KNOW IT!

Let's begin the following discourse with a general acceptance of the well-worn cliche "everyone is beautiful in their own way."  But, I can't help but think that an honest addendum "...and a little bit funny too", is well in order.

I'll be the first to admit that I am a little bit funny, some may even suggest that "weird" is a better word for it.  Always have been, always will be!  While open to interpretation, I wear the mantel proudly!

Now, with that admission from me, come on reader(s)...own up!  Who have you been trying to kid all these years? You're a little bit funny too...Everybody is!  It's just that we go through life working very hard at covering up our funniness, or weirdness (your choice).  We excel at putting up good fronts, all aimed at acceptance.

While unquestionably impressive, outward appearances of intelligence, strength, wealth, goodness and poise are always somewhat misleading.  No one is completely ideal or perfect.  Behind every facade are weird traits, thoughts, fantasies, doubts, likes, dislikes, persuasions and insecurities; and that's okay because we're all the same...In the end it's the great equalizer.

Just turn the clock back for a moment. The hard part about high school was navigating the rules and expectations of an opinionated teenage micro society, and doing anything possible, including great leaps of effort and imagination, to not under any circumstances do or say anything that would constitute the unshakable label of being weird. Being stigmatized as weird in high school is a death sentence (or at least solitary confinement). So we did our best to look like everyone else, and everyone else did their best to look like us. We were all hiding, with each other and from each other.

The teenage years are sensitive years and high school insecurity is totally understandable. As kids we were still growing into ourselves and trying to map out our place on the spectrum of social relationships. Mistakes were inevitable, but better made in private, far away from the spotlight of the hallways, lunchroom, or — God forbid — school dances. High schoolers are allowed to be nervous wrecks, afraid that their own shadow will make fun of them if they trip and fall. But it should end there, right?

After high school, when we grow into well-adjusted adults, shouldn’t the crippling need for peer approval go away? No way Jose!...The social pressure to conform to the expectations of others remains as strong as ever. Everyone, it seems, both young and old, is still afraid of looking weird. This broad insecurity misses a basic point. It’s okay to be weird. Weirdness usually is, in fact, potential strength waiting to be harnessed. What's left over is, well -- just being human.

Throughout history, the best and brightest among us, the great creators and innovators, have been those willing to stand out and risk being perceived as weird. When I allow you to be you, and you allow me to be me, without judgment or criticism of each other, we are free to harness and grow the strength of our respective differences. Everybody is weird and therefore nobody is.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde

I found the following from the Huffington Post to be particularly revealing and substantiating.

1) There is no such thing as normal.

Personality exists on a spectrum. There is no right or wrong place on the spectrum. The idea of being objectively normal was created to sell products and political agendas. What is normal for me may not be normal for you. When we chase the normal we lose sight of the natural. Natural is the new normal.

2) What you think is weird is really your super power.

We all have traits — physical, intellectual, emotional, etc. — that make us different. The Ego says that differences are flaws that should be hidden. The truth is that what makes you different is your superpower. You just haven’t learned how to harness the power yet. Instead of hiding your weirdness, learn how to use it. Your shyness, for example, might make you a better listener. Your awkward laugh might make you endearing. Our quirks, when we master them, contain great power.

3) What makes you weird makes you memorable.

When you try to fit into somebody else’s mold the results will be mediocre. Nobody pays money to see the expected; they pay money to see the captivating. Your true self, by its very nature, is captivating. People won’t remember the thing you did that everybody can do, but they will remember the thing you did that only you can do.

4) The world needs more authenticity.

In a world where conformity is the easiest option, authenticity is in high demand. Deep down everyone wants to be more real, but we are all afraid to be the first one. When you start living as your true self, weirdness and all, you give permission to those around you to do the same. We might not say it out loud, but everyone wants to see your honest self. We are starving for realness.

5) All great art was made by weird people.

Every great creative breakthrough — artistic, musical, scientific, etc. — by definition is weird because it introduces a solution beyond the existing paradigm. and requires a new way of thinking. Embracing your weirdness gives you a new perspective, and the world needs a new perspective. Innovation does not happen within the status quo. Innovation happens when outsiders challenge the status quo with weird ideas.

6) Resisting your weirdness makes you dark.

Everyone has unique characteristics. Allowing ourselves to express these unique characteristics makes us feel good. But hiding our unique characteristics, and resisting our natural self, makes us feel less good, and makes our personalities darker. Just like a black hole results from the absence of a star, so also the resistance to our unique qualities, however weird, results in a dark and inverted projection of self.

7) Standing out is how you find your tribe.

Many people who conform do so for fear of being lonely. But standing out will not make you lonely — far from it. By living honestly you will discover others who align with your weirdness. This is your tribe. When you stand up and live according to your purpose, you will find those who have stood up before you, and you will serve as inspiration for those who will stand up next.

8) Everything original seems weird at first.

New ideas, like biological mutations, on first impression appear to not fit in. But, as time passes, biological mutations, just like new ideas, find a purpose that was not expected. Eventually the mutation is replicated and contributes to the evolution of the species. Ideas are the evolution that pushes society forward. What is weird might not be understood today, but by tomorrow it could be the new norm.

9) When you own who you are the world will conform.

When you see yourself as capable, others will also see you as capable. When you see yourself as incapable, others will also see you as incapable. There is power in self-perception. When you stop fitting in and start standing out, it can be uncomfortable, at first. But when you take ownership of your actions, and ignore the fear of criticism, the world will, to the degree of your conviction, adapt to your perception of yourself.

So don't be so smug dear reader...You're kind of weird in your own way too.  Welcome to the club!

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?...YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN!

“Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.”
― J.D. Stroube, Caged by Damnation


“There are some questions that shouldn't be asked until a person is mature enough to appreciate the answers.”
― Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood


“Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.”
― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being


“We have no right to express an opinion until we know all of the answers.”
― Kurt Cobain


“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.”
― Richard Feynman


“Never give up on someone. Sometimes the answers you are looking for are the same answers another person is looking for. Two people searching together are always better than one person alone.”
― Shannon L. Alder

I was thinking this morning, with a degree of defeatism, about a number of questions that came to mind and for which I quite honestly had no ready answers in what appears to me to be unprecedented and unsettled times-- religion, politics, environmental and after-life to name only a few.  My initial impulse was to think: "Why waste time seeking elusive answers to any of life's questions?"

The questioning nature of human beings seems to have a huge cost. As we grow older, I think that it is only natural that we begin to question the price we pay for our inquisitiveness.

If I ask myself what makes us human, one answer jumps out at me straight away – it is not the only answer but it is the one suggested by the question. What makes us human is that we ask questions. All animals have interests, instincts and conceptions. All animals frame for themselves an idea of the world in which they live. But we alone question our surroundings. We alone refuse to be defined by the world in which we live but instead try to define our nature for ourselves.

The intellectual history of our species is to a great extent defined by this attempt. Are we animals like the others? Do we have souls as well as bodies? Are we related, in the order of things, to angels, to demons and to gods? All science, all art, all religion and all philosophy worth the name begins in a question. And it is because we have questions that human life is so deeply satisfying and so deeply troubling, too.

Not all questions have an answer. In mathematics and science we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy things are not so simple. Hamlet’s great soliloquy starts with the line: “To be or not to be: that is the question.” The play revolves around that question. Would it be better not to exist? Is there anything in human life that makes it worthwhile? When, confronted by the extent of human treachery and scheming, we fall into complete contempt towards our species, is there some trick of thought, some perception, some argument or some appeal to higher authority that will restore the will to live?

When I look at the great artists of the past, I am often struck by the extent to which their work has evolved in response to a question. Milton asked himself how the flawed world in which he lived could be the work of a supremely good God and his answer was Paradise Lost. Bach asked himself how variants and permutations flow from the basic moves in music and his answer was The Art of Fugue. Rembrandt asked himself how the soul is revealed in the flesh and what the lights and textures of our bodies mean, and his answer was his extraordinary series of self-portraits. In art it is always as though the question is what the work of art is really about.

Milton’s poem implants the question of man’s relation to God in the centre of our consciousness. It does not answer the question but instead creates wonder and awe in response to it. Wonder and awe are the diet of the artist and without them the world would be far less meaningful to us than it is.

The same is true of philosophy. Although there are philosophers who give answers, it is usually their questions and not their answers that have survived. Plato asked how it is that we can think about the property of redness and not just about red things. How can finite human minds gain access to universal realities? Plato’s question is still with us, even though few people today would accept his answer to it. Aristotle asked how it is that there can be time and change in an ordered universe. Is there a prime mover who sets it all in motion? Few would accept Aristotle’s answer to this question: but the question remains. How can there be time, change, process and becoming, in a world that could as easily have been permanently at rest? Kant asked how it is that human beings, who are part of the natural order, can freely decide to do this rather than that, can take responsibility for their decisions and hold each other to account for the consequences of their actions.

Kant was honest in acknowledging that the question lies beyond our capacity to answer it; but until we have asked it, he implied, we have no real understanding of our condition.

In the monasteries, libraries and courts of medieval Europe the big questions were constantly debated. People would be burned at the stake for their questions, and others would cross land and sea to punish people for their answers. In the Renaissance and again at the Enlightenment the big questions were asked and answered, and again death and destruction were the result, as in the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries and the French Revolution. Communism and fascism both began in philosophy, both promised answers to the ultimate questions and both led to mass murder.

Certainly if we look around ourselves today, we see a mass of ready-made answers and very few attempts to define the questions that would justify them. Should we then give up on the habit of asking questions? Perhaps not! To cease to ask questions would be to cease to be fully human.

God bless those who find a definitive answer to any question, even if it is only in their own mind!