Ask an Unanswerable Big Question

One evening on a camping trip with students, we were sitting in a forest clearing by the California coast. It was an unusually clear, crisp night. Our campfire had died down, and teachers and students began leaning back to look up at the stars. We all lived in the city, so we weren’t accustomed to how many stars were visible from the countryside. It amazed us and we enjoyed some long moments of quiet and awe together.

Then the questions emerged. One student asked, “if the universe is expanding…what is it expanding into?” Another asked about life after death — “What happens next?”. Another asked if people thought the idea of parallel universes was true.

The adults didn’t claim to have the answers to these questions. They added their own wonder, and agreed that life was incredibly mysterious. We all felt more connected and more peaceful, as we marveled at life and shared our big unanswerable questions under the night sky.

What do you wonder about?

Getting Started:

Don’t hold yourself back. Let the biggest questions out, even if they are scary to ponder. Try not to hold anyone else back by answering their unanswerable question for them. Each of us has to come to our own conclusions about life, even if our family or religion has given us some starting points. If someone asks a big question out loud to you, see if you can respond with a question. The best we can do, most of the time, is to add our own curiosity, to share the experience of being one small human in a huge and mysterious universe.

If you can, find a good spot for your questions. Not much beats a clear night sky with millions of stars visible above you. Being out in nature or away from our familiar surroundings can draw out the biggest, boldest questions. Find somewhere that makes you feel awe, that takes you out of your normal ways of thinking and being. And if possible, raise questions with others who can wonder with you.