I vividly remember the first challenge to my intellect. It didn’t come from an adult calling my bluff, or even from a peer reveling in my ignorance. I can’t quite see the little boy’s face; we were on a summer holiday, it was the middle of the week, and the sun was shinning bright. Everything was hope! Trees, flowers, the dogs that were on vacation, and even the games of badminton that provided a great opportunity to laugh, cry, and enjoy time with others. In the midst of all this a young boy who knew exactly what he was doing had caught me in the “why” question cycle.
“Why do we play?”
The question seemed innocent so I casually answered and went to move on. The next question was a shuttle flying back on me with more speed than I had hit it just moments earlier. I gave an answer with a devilishly sincere “why” thrown instantly on the pile. The process went on, then on some more, as I valiantly tried to answer each “why”. In the end I finally gave up. There was no answer that I could give that would possibly prevent the next “why”.
I find that in the quiet of the night I am not that different from the young boy on that summer morning. I want to know the ultimate answer and my mind cannot seem to stop with the first or even the umpteenth answer. The subjects just seem to roll on top of each other. The setting move quickly; wicked conundrums with no possible answer spill into relationship hells which in turn lead to towards pain and moments of being abandoned. Each question and the silence that follows push me on to yet another question more perplexing than the last.
In the end God is always on trial. In the end the answer finally boils down to a mystery.
“I’m A to Z, the First and the Final, Beginning and Conclusion.” (Revelation 22.13) There are those who accuse and challenge but God will be. Love will win.
