I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I did it myself.  –Albert Einstein

After collecting a number of Einstein quotes he is becoming one of my favorites and this is one of the best ones. I know in my life I have always asked “Why is this like ….” I often get the equivalent of “no” as a reply or maybe more accurately “this is the way we have always done it…” or some such as that.

Those refusals to take seriously my “why” has made me stronger over the years. It is one of the things that has enabled me to cope with my deafness. I won’t fall into the box that people want to put those who cannot hear. The “deaf and dumb” label is still alive today.

My asking why and then having to go about finding out why myself has made me stronger. One case in point is when I questioned my religious leaders about why we seem to ignore Jesus’ words today I was pretty much told that we are just worthless people who can’t do that but he loves us anyway. That answer just didn’t play with me. Since I could get no answer that made any sense I went about finding out the answer myself. I spent years studying the words of Jesus and the history of religion. As a result I now have my answer that my religious leader either didn’t want to tell me our just didn’t know himself. What is the answer?  To find that out join me on the journey of the history of the church over at RedLetterLiving in the coming months to find out.  The answers just might surprise you 🙂

Don’t ever stop asking questions and don’t ever take “no” or “that is the way we have always done it” for an answer especially in todays political environment. Thomas Jefferson’s quote the “a democracy depends on an informed electorate” is more urgent today than it has ever been. Continue asking questions and seeking answers; don’t just sit back and accept the spin that others put on the story.

But what do I know….