Perspective: It’s about questions, not answers
Perspective From The Olympian August 21, 2010
By Sara Lewis
Like many parents, I hear a lot of questions throughout the day. “Why, how, what, why, why why?” can start to overwhelm a parent of young children. And many of the questions I hear are incredibly complex; many of the questions have no firm answer. I don’t believe it is my job to answer all those questions. The only honest answer I can give is sometimes “I don’t know.” However, there is a huge difference between not knowing and not caring. I care passionately about those questions.
This is the same quality that I am called to utilize in my role as a Unitarian Universalist religious educator. I design and administer the Sunday school program for a church with no set creed, no statement of faith to memorize, and no one standard set of teachings. Our philosophy of religious education was explained by the 19th century Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing: “The great end in religious education is not to stamp our minds irresistibly on the young, but to stir up their own; not to make them see with our eyes but to look inquiringly and steadily with their own; not to give them a definite amount of knowledge but to inspire a fervent love of truth; not to form an outward regularity but to touch inward springs.”
And so the questions are usually more important than the answers. There are some things we teach (respect and fairness for all people, acceptance and freedom in a search for truth and meaning, use of the democratic process, striving for peace and justice, and respecting nature and the Earth), but those tend to be about how we agree to behave as people. The “big questions,” the existential questions, that I hear from children have no set doctrinal answers in this tradition.
I believe that all children have existential questions, which are questions about the very nature of existence. These are questions such as “where did I come from before I was born?” “why am I ME?” “how do I know this is all real?” “what is the purpose of life?” and “what happens after you die?” Sometimes children may not know how to ask these questions, and so I believe it is the job of religious education to give them the words and help them frame the questions. At the church I serve the religious education program has this philosophy: We seek to provide children with an environment that is creative and safe; one that encourages personal exploration and promotes each child’s journey to their own belief system and world view. Adults accompany children on this journey while recognizing that spiritual growth is unique to each individual.
This philosophy values the importance of each child’s questions, and empowers them to find their own answers. Instead of giving an answer, I find that it is enough to give my attention and my sense of wonder. I share with the children that I also have questions, and that I also wonder about these things. I pay attention to their questions and their ideas, and give them my respect. Our questions can each be different, and they can have many answers. The journey and the conversation are the heart of the matter.
Sara Lewis is the director of religious education at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Perspective is coordinated by Interfaith Works in cooperation with The Olympian. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by Interfaith Works or The Olympian.