An Inquiring Heart

 Dear friends,

The other day I attended a webinar entitled Holy Chaos:  Creating Connections in Divisive Times.  The webinar presenter, a minister named Amanda Henderson, had written a book and was sharing some of her main ideas.   I signed up because the webinar felt timely; we are indeed living in divisive times.  And we are Christians living in divisive times, called even in the midst of great division to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies.

Pastor Henderson began by pointing out that most of us were taught never to discuss religion and/or politics—and then she noted that following that advice doesn’t seem to be helping us much!  To clarify—it’s not that people today aren’t talking (or posting or tweeting or shouting!) about religion and politics; it’s that we are not listening and speaking carefully and respectfully to one another.

One of the communication strategies Amanda Henderson suggested for this divisive time is “Cultivating Curiosity.”  I love that.  As we find ourselves in conversations with people whose core beliefs are very different from ours, she recommends that we open ourselves to listen with wonder and to ask “Why?” questions—the way a child asks those questions, genuinely seeking to understand.  “What makes that so important to you?” we might ask, truly trying to learn from the other person’s perspective.

Listening to Pastor Henderson, I was reminded of a line from the wonderful prayer in our baptismal service, the prayer that comes right after the baptism itself:  Give [the newly baptized] an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works (BCP 308).

In this time of such division, may we indeed have inquiring and discerning hearts, and the gift of joy and wonder in all of God’s works—including and especially God’s children who look at the world very differently than we do!

Blessings of curiosity and wonder to you!

Anne