WHAT IS THE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION YOU NEED TO ASK?

“The ability to ask beautiful questions, often in very unbeautiful moments, is one of the great disciplines of a human life.” David Whyte, From On Being with Krista Tippet.

Our nation is certainly in an unbeautiful moment. That, however, is not the whole truth. The whole truth is that the ugliness we witnessed in the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 at the hands of a white police officer, while three other police officers who were present did not intervene, is an ugliness that has been going on since white people began to enslave black people in this country. Four hundred plus years of human beings with their knees on the necks of other human beings, preventing them from breathing. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

Coming up with a beautiful question in the midst of so much ugliness may be incredibly difficult. There is so much fear. There is so much rage. There is so much grief. As a white person, if I choose to, I could turn my face from the ugliness. I am determined not to do that.

“A beautiful question starts to shape your identity as much by asking it, as it does by having it answered. You just have to keep asking. And before you know it, you will find yourself actually shaping a different life, meeting different people, finding conversations that are leading you in those directions that you wouldn’t even have seen before.” David Whyte

I’m determined to find a question, a beautiful question, I need to ask right now. And I’m determined to keep asking it, hopefully in community with others who also want to ask the same or similar questions, until we shape lives that truly embody our deepest longings for a world of justice, equality, and peace. Please feel free to share your beautiful question and/or your process toward finding one. In doing so, you might help someone else find theirs. We need each other in this work.

*George Floyd was murdered in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I love this neighborhood. So many beloveds live and work in or near it. It is also the home of In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. Nearly every year for the past 22 years I have attended HOBT’s MayDay, a beautiful parade, ceremony, and celebration rooted in the local community and contemporary issues, concerns, and visions for a better world.