questions and constancies

No one who lives stands still. One begins to ask questions as soon as one can speak. Indeed, my first utterance, if I am to believe Mother, was not a single word but a coherent question: “Where’s Daddy?” I must have wanted to know. The young, at least, always want answers . . .

The only reason for asking is to get an answer. The only reason for seeking is to find (not to maintain one’s ‘Seeker Status’). The only reason for an open mind is to fill it with truth–as open eyes are to see with. Or an open mouth to snap at a bit of steak. Otherwise, a mouth that just hangs open indicates vacuity; and a mind for ever open on all the great questions is no less a mark of vacuity.

But when one finds–finds love or finds truth–it becomes (or ought to become) a constancy in one’s life. Those questions are answered, and one needs no longer be concerned with them, except to help others seeking answers. But new questions pose themselves . . .

– Sheldon Vanauken, Under the Mercy