As the eldest sibling, I recall my two younger sisters going through a phase of asking “why” questions when they were children.
Sometimes, the “whys” got in the way of them participating in my fine demands and plans for the day. This was annoying to me, yet somehow adorable to others.
Sometimes, I answered the “whys” with “because I said so,” which I, of course, learned from our parents. At other times, the persistent “whys” made everyone stop to think and respond with something like, “I don’t know… that is just the way it is.” Later, still puzzled, we had the same questions ourselves.
“Why” questions were almost always exaggerated on car trips when no one could divert and distract or leave and avoid. Once my sister asked teleological questions for nearly thirty minutes straight, although she wouldn’t have used such philosophical terminology to describe her natural inquisitions regarding God and the world.
Her questions were similar to, “Did God make the sky?”
“Yes, God made the sky,” our mom replied.
“Did God make the birds in that sky?” she asked.
“Yes, God made the birds in the sky,” replied our mom.
“Why?” she asked.
I don’t remember exactly how our mom responded, but I’m sure it had something to do with God’s creativity being demonstrated through animals, such as birds.
My sister persisted, “Did God make the clouds?”
“Yes, God made the clouds.”
“Did God make the sun?”
“Yes, God made the sun.”
“Did God make the buildings?”
“No. God didn’t make the buildings, but God made the people who made the buildings.”
For a second, surprised by the sudden and much-needed break in the conversation, I could see time begin to slow through my sister’s wandering eyes, as this was the first time she was hearing of something that God didn’t directly make.
Despite how irritating I found my sister’s search for certainty, now that I’m older, I know children asking “why” is a healthy developmental marker that fosters opportunities to make sense of their environment, engage in conversations and begin to understand independence.
I don’t know about you, but these days, it’s harder for me to find the things that God does make. I miss the naivety that comes with leaning into unabashed, childlike curiosity like my sister did so easily during our car ride many years ago.
And so, I’m then left with this question: What are we making today and why? I have to wonder what would happen if we nourished the children within us who are still trying to make sense of a world that tries to overexplain and overcomplicate God’s way of continual creation.
God made us and we are making buildings and other things. We make dinner, money, our beds and new software. We make homes, music, roads,and planes. Shoes, poetry, books, emojis and systems. Schools, websites, friends, coffee and religions.
Why? What do we let God do and where then do we expect to find God?
Maybe asking “why” questions doesn’t mean we’ll find more answers, but that we’ll find God. And perhaps through these questions, we’ll foster opportunities to make sense of our environments, engage in healthier conversations and begin to understand independence and dependence—just as children do.
Here God is in the morning commute, the job that overworks us, the apps we mindlessly click on and the shoes we put on. Here God is in the doors of the schools we walk into, in the religions we adhere to, in the leftover ingredients we use to create dinner, and in the emojis we think we cleverly use.
It is quite human to be stingy with the things we have created and believe God can only be present in them through an invitation or an RSVP. It is pretty human to forget we are not the original creators.
Here God is. Will you go to God with what you are making? Will you have the courage to ask God and yourself some “why” questions today?
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Anna Parish, originally from Auburn, Alabama, earned a B.S. in Applied Health Sciences from Troy University and is currently in her second year of the M.Div. program at Campbell University Divinity School. She serves as an intern at Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she enjoys walking alongside people of all ages as they explore their callings. Anna is passionate about cultivating authentic communities through holistic spiritual development. She is pursuing a vocation in hospital chaplaincy and authorship and is interested in religious social science research and preaching.
