asking the right questions

Spiritual resource to share: spiritual framework

Did you ever hear of this question – or a question like it? When did you stop beating your dog?
This question, and questions similar to it, point out how important it is to ask the right questions.

Of course, in answering the question above, you are stuck. Providing that you have never beaten your dog, you are stuck responding to false accusations and are trapped in having to explain yourself outside of the framework of the question. The problem is -- it's the wrong question!

Asking the right question is critical to getting a right answer. In asking a question you do three things. You:

• establish or respond to a premise
• provide a framework for the answer
• and lead the conclusion - whether in a bias way, a general or a specific way.

I've found that the question Why do bad things always happen? is similar to the one about beating the dog. So are questions like: When will I stop being a jerk? When will my life turn around? The premises are all faulty, the frameworks for the answers are too narrow and the conclusions are biased toward accepting a faulty premise!

So, in healing, how can you be sure how to ask the right question? I think that the answer is simple. Start with the right answer. The right answer sets up the right premise.

Here’s an example: The right answer is that God is One. That means that God is omnipotent and the only power. So God’s governing is supreme. Anything contrary to that not only breaks the First Commandment, but is set up to be corrected or reversed until it comes into conformity with God’s government.

Instead of the question being Why do bad things always happen? -you can ask, How are bad things to be healed?
Instead of When will I stop being a jerk? -ask How can I reflect God’s goodness more and more?
Instead of When will my life turn around? –ask How can I be open to more of God’s infinite possibilities? How can I see myself as God sees me?

These are the type of questions whose premise helps to shape the most healing and transformative answers!





To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.