Asking questions…

I've always enjoyed reading Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and despite the controversy which the book has always aroused, I am unashamed to read it and make no apologies. One part of the poem Song of Myself, starting with the line, "Trippers and askers surround me…" has always struck a chord with me. I don't pretend to know what Walt meant, but somehow what I read into it connects with what St Basil wrote about the kinds of questions people pose.

I just read an excellent post on the blog of a new-found friend, Symeon, and, as I often do with other people's blog posts that I find helpful, I want to quote part of it, and then direct you to the whole article. You'll find a link to it after the quote below.

In the ancient work, On the Holy Spirit, written in the fourth century, St. Basil the Great addresses Amphilochios, who St. Basil compliments for his "love of learning and diligence in study"—
But what I admire most about you is that your questions reflect a sincere desire to discover the truth, not like many these days who ask questions only to test others. There is certainly no lack nowadays of people who delight in asking endless questions just to have something to babble about, but it is difficult to find someone who loves truth in his soul, who seeks the truth as medicine for his ignorance. Just as the hunter hides his traps, or an ambush of soldiers camouflages itself, so these questioners spew forth elaborately constructed inquiries, not really hoping to learn anything useful from them, because unless you agree with them and give them the answer they want, they imagine that they are fully entitled to stir up a raging controversy.

Read the whole article at: http://symeonsjournal.blogspot.com/2006/07/any-questions.html