When I was a kid I always wanted to be involved in the conversation. The conversation was usually between and among family who were older, faster, and quicker than I was. As the youngest in the family I wanted to be part of the conversation, and I would jump in…whether I was ready or not. And usually I was not.
I would jump in with my mind whirling about and I would try to catch up. In order to speak up and stake my claim on the conversation I would say the first thing that would come out of my brain/mouth and it would be, “What when…?”
My words would often fail me, but my curiosity never did.
Hopefully a more appropriate question or statement would follow once I had a place in the conversation. Usually what I had to say had nothing about a ‘what’ or a ‘when’, but that’s what my brain did.
And my brain still works in slightly odd, mysterious ways. Sometimes I’m still asking “what when” trying to jump in a conversation being led by people who are much faster than I am.
Sometimes my brain decides to figure something out WAY after the question was asked. And I just want to share the “Eureka!” moment.
And sometimes I’m just curious, and isn’t it great to share our curiosity?!
Several years ago I had an Old Testament professor who taught me a useful lesson. It went something like this- our pursuit of understanding and living life is less about the answers and more about the questions.
So… what when?
