FAQs

One of the things I love most about my job as a senior editor for an advertising agency is that I get to proof and edit a broad range of materials from a diverse group of clients. From brochures for an NFL team to technical manuals for an animal health company to magazine ads for a hospital to glass milk bottles for a local dairy to coupons and packaging for cheese and dairy products, I love that I get to read about so many different things every single day at work. Many years ago, I worked for an engineering firm as a technical proofreader, and while I liked the company and the people I worked with, I would get so bored reading about the same thing day in and day out (it didn't help that what I was reading mainly consisted of plans and specs for nuclear power plants). For all the different pieces that come across my desk each day now, I always love it when those pieces contain FAQ sections ... Frequently Asked Questions. The reason I love those particular parts of the materials I'm editing? It's quite fun for me to test myself to see if I already know the answers to the questions before I read them, and if I don't, I always learn something new about our clients.

This morning, I spent some time with the stupid head doctor ... and by the way, I promised her that I would come up with a new name for her for the new year (seems that for some reason unbeknownst to me, she's not overjoyed about being known to the world as the stupid head doctor) ... and as she always does each time I meet with her, she asked me lots of questions. And today, several of those questions were about God ... questions that were deep, questions that will linger, questions that quite possibly may remain unanswered in my heart and soul this side of heaven. I'll give the good doctor one thing, though ... she certainly makes me think deeply, and I often think deeply about the things she says to me and the questions she asks of me for a long, long time after I leave her office. The more I've thought about her questions from this morning, the more it's made me think that life most definitely has an FAQ section ... well, at least for me it does anyway, especially when it comes to God and my relationship with Him. And the more I've thought about that, that my life has a God FAQ section, the more it's made me think about what questions actually reside in that section of my heart and mind. And the more I've thought about my own questions, the more I've found myself wondering what some of your FAQs might be. And the more I've wondered what your questions might be, the more I decided that I should write this post and list some of mine and hope that you will message me with some of yours.

So here goes, here's at least the beginning of my list of God FAQs (and I'll warn you up front that some of my questions are rather silly in nature, but they are questions that often cross my mind ... not sure exactly what that says about me or the scope of my intelligence).

1) Why did You make the grass green and the sky blue? I don't much care for the color green and think grass would look much cooler if it were red. I'm OK with the sky being blue, I just would like to know why You chose that particular color.

2) Why do some people have to suffer so much more than others? Especially people who are kind and giving and loving and who have such deep faith?

3) Do You ever grow tired of me asking You the same thing over and over and over again?

4) How do You really define sin? Is telling a lie really the same to You as killing someone? Are there really no levels of sin with You? 

5) Why is it so hard for me to believe that You love me just the way I am? That You loved me before I was even born? That You will always love me? Why is that so hard for me to believe?

6) Will there be dogs in heaven?

7) Will I be able to eat everything I want in heaven? (And by everything, God, I mean every sugar-loaded bite that I can stuff into my mouth.) 

8) Do You sometimes wish You never would have created people?

9) What do You look like? Do You have blue eyes or brown hair? Do You even have eyes and hair? Do You eat ice cream, and if You do, chocolate or vanilla?

10) You and I know that this is the question I ask of You every day, many times over ... it's my most frequently asked question of all, God. Will You forgive me? Again?