{"id":6817,"date":"2016-10-27T06:45:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T10:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6817"},"modified":"2016-10-27T06:45:17","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T10:45:17","slug":"two-questions-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6817","title":{"rendered":"two questions today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1472341581053-2af63cb175d4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As previously posted, the question mark is by far my favorite punctuation mark. The period makes a statement; the exclamation point too often justifies someone shouting at us; and the colon and semi-colon still allow one person to do all the talking. The question mark is the only punctuation mark that invites a response; it\u2019s the only mark that keeps the conversation going \u2014 intentionally. This week, I heard two great questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you asking a question or offering a judgment?\u201d<\/strong><\/em> said the first.<\/p>\n

Great insight. Am I truly trying to understand? Do I respect another enough to listen well, to put comprehension of their perspective above my right to\u00a0evaluate and assess?<\/p>\n

Or\u2026 am I just sitting back, waiting to pounce\u2026 You take your turn. I\u2019ll take mine. But when I do, I\u2019ll let you know how wrong you are…<\/em><\/p>\n

Asking questions is not simply an exercise in taking turns. Asking questions means seeking to understand \u2014 and giving up the right to make any decree at the end. It\u2019s asking, listening, processing together. And when the perspective shared is different than our own, it is not time to be judgmental.<\/p>\n

Next great question\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this the year?!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Funny. I heard this from multiple people, supposedly from different so-called \u201csides\u201d (\u2026 uh… I don\u2019t believe in \u201csides,\u201d you know\u2026 I believe in all sorts of angles from all sorts of varied perspectives, but people like to pit us against one another, fictionally driving the narrative that one of us is all right and one of us is all wrong \u2014 without ever analyzing that there might be something right and wrong with both of us\u2026 but alas\u2026 I digress\u2026)<\/em> With the onset of the Fall Classic \u2014 the MLB\u2019s 112th World Series \u2014 and two teams who have not known the ultimate success in decades, I heard that humble refrain\u2026<\/p>\n

Again\u2026 \u201cIs this the year?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I ask again because what strikes me most about the simple statement is the embedded hope within the query. To ask if this is the year, assumes that one doesn\u2019t know the answer. It may be; it may not. But the hope equates to an active wishing and watching. Hope is so much more attractive than its often self-proclaimed opposites\u2026 disbelief, demandingness\u2026 Something about the person who waits with that earnest expectation of what\u2019s important is absolutely beautiful.<\/p>\n

And so I thought of those two questions, wrestling with my reaction to each \u2014 thankful that others invited a response and encouraged dialogue.<\/p>\n

I wondered, too, about this political\u00a0season. Let me rephrase: this brutal, polarizing, often rhetorically-ugly, political\u00a0season.\u2028\u2028 Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if instead of telling others how we think\u2026 instead of all the self-proclamations\u2026 instead of the Facebook rants and raves\u2026 instead of the judgment\u2026 instead of any pouncing\u2026 instead of pitting ourselves against one another\u2026 instead of falling prey to the idea that one of us is all right and one of us is all wrong\u2026 Wouldn\u2019t it be better and wiser and more respectful and loving of one another if we asked questions and sincerely attempted to understand?\u2026<\/p>\n

I have a great friend with whom I am processing much of this political season. We approach it\u00a0differently, but our willingness to understand is a growth tool for us both. We ask a lot of questions… a lot<\/em> of questions. It’s amazing how that works.<\/p>\n

So wouldn\u2019t it be wonderful if we refrained from judgment \u2014 both verbally and quietly, even in the back of our minds?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping someday soon it will be our year.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As previously posted, the question mark is by far my favorite punctuation mark. The period makes a statement; the exclamation point too often justifies someone shouting at us; and the colon and semi-colon still allow one person to do all the talking. The question mark is the only punctuation mark that invites a response; it\u2019s … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “two questions today”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-issue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6817"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6827,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817\/revisions\/6827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}