The Question Queen

I had a great weekend....spent it in Denver by going shopping (er, I mean retail therapy), eating out, attending church (great message), spending time with friends, attending our monthly study on being steward leaders, and ended it by going to a celebration of life for our dear friend and mentor.  So, I get this phone call from Carol (who could not make it to the celebration because she is a pastor in another state) and she wanted to know the details of the party.  She tells me that "turn about is fair play" because (according to Carol), "I ask a lot of questions."  I just tell her that I am a curious individual. (insert smile) She calls me the question queen. (Well, at least I am the queen of something).  I then went on to tell her that I sometimes think of eight impossible things before breakfast."...okay, back to the conversation.  Now, I have to say that she asked some really good questions - probably ones that I would've asked had I been the asker and not the answerer.  The only thing is, I didn't know that I was supposed to know the answers. She asked if there were flowers there and I said, "yes, they were beautiful."  Carol, of course, wanted to know what color they were and what they looked like....good thing I noticed that.  She then told me that if anyone would notice these things, I would....okay....Next she asked who I met, talked to, saw, and then I told her how beautiful our guest of honor was. She asked, "did she have on the black dress with red flowers? Check. Did she have on a sheer jacket over it? Check. (Whew, I am really glad that I did notice these things).  She then asked about the food....what did they serve?  A cake?  Really, they had a cake made? Yes. Someone made it and it was just beautiful....it had more of those flowers that I told you about."  They also had jumbo raw shrimp, garlic toast with pate, croissant sandwiches, colorful fruit, petit lemon cakes, BIG cookies, punch, coffee, water....And, then she asked me about the plates and napkins - like I was supposed to notice!  Good thing I did. wink, wink.  They complimented the color scheme of yellow, orange and red.  I think the only question I didn't know was, "What earrings did she have on?" Sheeez! Carol laughed when I gave her a hard time about that one because she says it would've been a question that I would ask.  She's right.  I would've....inquiring minds like to know.  Really though, I share this because I think asking questions (okay, gathering information) helps us to learn and grow.  I do ask Carol questions - a lot - because she has a good grasp on scripture and the text and I want to understand it so that I can learn from it as well as teach others.
I decided that before I closed out this post that I would add a few quotes on questions:
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.

Albert Einstein
We hear only those questions for which we are in a position to find answers.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.
Voltaire

Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.  (I kind of like this one)
Tony Robbins

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

Lou Holtz