Musing – A Question to Ask Children

Hebraic Musing – A Question to Ask Children.

Up until now, my typical challenging question of children, ages 5 to 25, was “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Maybe I am really asking “Who do you want to work for; or how will you earn a living to support a family; or what is your favorite hobby?”  And it leads to a second question like, “What do you have to study/learn in order to do that?”  Effectively I’ve been asking “What (boring) company do you want to work for (to slug out a living)?”

I’ve had to reconsider that questioning.  Maybe the better and more inspiring question would be “What problems would you like to solve in the world?”   Maybe the more people focus on what they’d like to accomplish, the more likely they will be to achieve it.

To quote Rabbi Eckstein –

“In Proverbs we learn, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” This is true for nations as well as for individuals. Every nation needs to have a vision of what they stand for and the role they hope to play in the world. If a nation lacks direction, it will ultimately fall into anarchy or into the hands of another nation. In contrast, a country that rallies around strong ideals and values will be united and strong. It will achieve great things both for its people and for the world.

“In the same way, if we as individuals don’t know what we stand for or what we want to do with our lives, we can end up in a mess. Without clear direction in our lives, we aren’t likely to accomplish much. We are all gifted with talents and abilities from God. It is our job to form a vision and a mission for our lives.”

Let’s encourage our children to think of their purpose in life.  What do they want to accomplish?  Would that thought process improve their desire to study both their textbooks and their Bible?  Similarly, at dinner time I would typically asked my children “What did you learn in school today?” Maybe a better question would be “Did you ask any good questions in school today?”  Or “What problems were solved today?”  Questions create a vacuum, thus a quest for answers.  Students who ask questions pick up far more information than those who glide passively through their school years.  BTW – Applies to adults as well!

When we ask questions, we are on a mission to get an answer. We are motivated to learn and take an active role in our development.

And for all ages – Let’s have a purpose, a “Mission Statement” for our lives.  Let’s search ourselves and answer these questions:

·         What would we like to accomplish?

·         How can we best utilize our God-given gifts and abilities?

·         What kind of person would we like to be?

·         How do we want to be remembered? Hint - Start by writing the epitaph for your tombstone.

Points to Ponder

Does this line of questioning apply only to children?

When seeking employment, we might ask ourselves “What do we want to accomplish?”

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” — Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 8, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Note:  Inspired by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s  “Have a Vision for Your Life”   Oct.28, 2016