#small questions

New Post has been published on https://www.crownofcompassion.org/2017/05/16/posture-quiet-surrender/

A posture of quiet surrender

I find that to hear the voice of God, we must be in a posture of quiet surrender.  Starting with small questions helps us do that.”- John Eldredge

As John Eldredge continues the Summer section of Walking with God, he discusses step one in learning to listen to the voice of God.  That step?  Ask simple questions.  To hear the voice of God, we must assume a posture of quiet surrender.  Asking small questions aids that process.

In contrast, it’s futile to begin that first step with huge and desperate questions.  Desperately hoping to hear what you secretly want to hear creates a great deal of drama.  As a result, there’s too much emotion involved, too many thoughts swirling around in your head.

Therefore, John advises, settle down and be present to God.  Pause to listen.  Then, repeat the question.  Most importantly, John notes, while you do this, note your heart’s posture on the matter.  It’s absolutely critical that you’re willing to hear whatever God wants to say.  In other words, when it comes to hearing God’s voice, no more decisive issue exists than the issue of surrender.

Thus, the fact that we’re drawn to God in search of guidance reflects the beauty of surrender.  Consequently, we come away with a deeper holiness.  John summarizes the basics:

start with small questions

repeat the question quietly in your heart to God

bring yourself to a posture of quiet surrender

In conclusion, Mr. Eldredge emphasizes he’s talking about matters of counsel or guidance not directly addressed by Scripture.  Finally, the author states that if he doesn’t seem able to discern God’s answer, he’ll “try on” one answer and then the other.  Often, before we hear actual words, we’re able to sense God’s direction on the matter deep within us- through the Holy Spirit’s power.

Today’s question: What Scriptures help you maintain a posture of quiet surrender?  Please share.

I recommend this short post on Medium, introducing kaizen as a way of asking small questions to overcome creative block (or, in my case, to help move my kiddos forward in whatever they face at the moment).

       Our language (“discourses,” “deconstructive questions”) can make this whole process sound quite heady and cumbersome. In practice, we strive to keep all that to ourselves. We seek to ask small questions that ask people, one small step at a time, to reflect, in their own language and metaphors, on the taken-for-granted, unquestioned values, beliefs, and customs that shape their daily experience, and to evaluate whether those ways of living suit them or not.

Shrinkrants

Michael White quoted by Jill Freedman & Gene Combs (2009). Narrative Couple Therapy. In A. Gurman & N. Jacobson (eds.) Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (revised edition). New York: Guilford. 

Being there when kids go "Aha!" is what teachers live for. There's learning nobody can take away from you because you just get it in your bones and that's the best learning. So how do you teach that? "Small questions" are surely key.

In thinking about math instruction it becomes obvious that there are multiple connections we take for granted as adults already knowing a little math. When a student makes the missing connection and then quickly solves a series of equations that had just moments earlier had them stumped and frozen, it's thrilling to be there with them. When students are having hard time solving problems, it's not always easy to see which connections they're not making.  At other times it's hard to imagine what patterns they are attending to.

One of my nieces had a math page to fill in. One of the items was a picture of an analogue clock face and the question was: What time is it now? She looked at her watch and filled in the blank.

Here's a simple problem a kid might be asked to solve:

Lamar has 12 pennies. He has 3 times as many pennies as nickels. How many nickels does he have?

 A kid struggling with this problem is juggling many concepts in mind. There are different interpretations: fractional part, division and ratio that come into play. It helps to know what a nickel is, but that's really the least of it. The student has to have a  working idea of sets: N for original set and N for each subset; N for original set and N of equivalent disjoint subsets. She also has to have an idea of ratio of one set to another. And a bunch of other stuff is going through her mind. 

A good teacher is prepared to ask some more questions to enable a student to successfully solve the problem.