Worth a Second Look
The Courage to Answer
The photograph below was taken last week in Perth, with the latest cohort of our Lead the Way programme with Aviva.
It captures much of what I love about facilitating: warmth, laughter, conversation and people learning together.
But behind the smiles, there was also a great deal of thinking going on.

At various moments, I’d ask the group a question and the room would fall silent. People looked at their notes. Some stared thoughtfully into the distance. Others suddenly became fascinated by the pattern of the carpet!
I’d wait a wee while for a response—usually about three seconds.
Although, as a facilitator, those three seconds can sometimes feel remarkably like twenty minutes!
Yet I’ve learned that when someone doesn’t answer immediately, it doesn’t necessarily mean the question has failed. Quite often, it means the question is working.
They may be searching for words or examining something uncomfortable. They may be trying to separate the answer they think they ought to give from the one they actually believe.
That takes time.
My own experience of giving radio interviews and appearing on podcasts has reinforced that lesson.
When I am coaching or facilitating, I usually occupy the relative safety of the questioner’s chair. I can ask a nice, concise question, lean back and look thoughtful.
During an interview, however, I am in the other chair!
The presenter asks a short, apparently innocent question—and suddenly I am expected to produce an answer that is clear, concise, interesting and preferably finished before the programme ends.
Oscar Wilde observed: “Questions are never indiscreet; answers sometimes are.”
Muhammad Ali offered some reassuring advice too: “Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”
Perhaps—but silence feels slightly less golden when you are live on the radio!
All of this has reminded me that asking a thoughtful question takes curiosity; finding an honest answer takes courage.
The question may take only a few seconds to express. The answer may require us to look beyond our habits, explanations and carefully rehearsed stories.
Sometimes the first answer is the safe one, the second is the sensible one and then, after a little more silence, comes the honest one.
That is often where the real learning begins.
Rainer Maria Rilke counselled: “Live the questions now. Perhaps then… you will gradually come to live yourself into the answer.”
I know that some answers cannot be hurried, they simply need room to emerge!
What question might you need to give yourself a little more time to answer?
Unhurried


Peace and Rest
A Matter of Manner
Leadership
Hearts Lighter. Minds Clearer.
One More Turn
Another Lesson
A Scotsman, a Tongan and a Hat
One of the funniest moments of our recent Mission Preparation Tour happened, as I stepped onto the coach one morning wearing my favourite cap.
Brad Wilcox was sitting near the front, spotted it immediately and said:
“Daryl, I like your hat.”
Without even thinking, I replied:
“It’s my favourite. You’re not getting it!”
Brad burst out laughing.
Now, the other mission leaders travelling with us were from Tonga, so Brad without missing a beat said: “What’s the difference between a Scotsman and a Tongan?”
There was just enough of a pause for me to wonder where on earth this was going.
Then came the punchline:
“He’d just give you the hat!”
That was it. We were gone. Absolutely helpless.
I’m not sure it did much for the international reputation of Scottish generosity, but it was one of those wonderfully spontaneous moments when the timing, the friendship and the sheer silliness of it all came together perfectly.
And every time I look at this photograph of Brad and me in Nauvoo, I think about that hat.
Thankfully, I still have it.
Brad still doesn’t. 😂
But perhaps there is a little Sunday lesson hiding somewhere in the laughter.
Paul reminded the Saints of the words of Jesus:
“…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” – Acts 20:35
The truth is that discipleship continually invites us to loosen our grip.
Sometimes on possessions, or our time, our opinions, comforts or convenience.
Perhaps generosity begins when we stop asking, “What am I going to lose?” and begin asking, “What could I give?”
Even if, apparently, the answer is your favourite hat!
Although Brad…
you’re still not getting mine. 😄
What is your “favourite hat” – the thing you find hardest to let go of?
Just Be There
A Pinprick of Light
Like many others, I got caught up in solar eclipse fever on Wednesday evening.
After watching the early evening BBC news – much of which was dominated by the excitement of the eclipse across the UK, I decided I ought to join in.
Monic and I were staying at the Preston Temple for a few days, so naturally I reached for the most obvious piece of scientific equipment available to me – a colander!
Out into the evening sunshine I went, holding it over a sheet of paper, watching dozens of tiny crescent-shaped images appear.

Later, Monic and I walked up towards the temple and were surprised to find quite a crowd gathered outside.
It was fascinating, as there were all sorts of wonderful contraptions in operation. Cardboard boxes had been adapted into viewing devices. Pieces of paper were being held at unusual angles. Advice was being freely dispensed to anyone who looked remotely interested.
There was, however, a real shortage of actual eclipse glasses.
For a few minutes, the temple grounds seemed to have turned into an impromptu science fair.
Then I spotted my favourite method of the evening.
One dear friend took a safety pin and made a tiny pinprick through her temple recommend, using the little hole to catch an image of the eclipse.
As I looked more closely, I noticed the image of Jesus Christ on the recommend.
And in that small moment, something shifted for me. What had begun as something fun and light-hearted became a little more meaningful.
Thoughts Change…
Here we were, standing beside a temple decorated with images of the sun, moon and stars, watching one of those great heavenly bodies pass in front of another.
The thought came quietly: Is there a God? Is there a Creator?

Bruce C. Hafen once used a striking image when considering that kind of question:
“What are the odds that a tornado spinning through a junkyard would create a Boeing 747?”
Alma gave his own answer centuries earlier when he said to Korihor: “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion.” – Alma 30:44
And perhaps that is part of what happened for me that evening.
The fun of the colanders, cardboard boxes and improvised contraptions gradually gave way to something quieter.
The Lord said:
“… Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds.” Doctrine & Covenants 43:34
Standing there beside the temple, watching the movement of the sun and moon, that phrase seemed especially fitting.
Perhaps, in the very act of Creation, our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ anticipated moments just like this, when generation after generation will look up at the sun, moon and stars and catching a glimpse of the wonder behind it all.
For a few moments, the solemnities of eternity really did rest upon my mind.
I don’t pretend that an eclipse proves the existence of God.
But for me, it certainly points towards Him.
The more we learn about the universe — its order, its laws, its movement and the extraordinary conditions that make life possible — the more wonder there seems to be.
What began that evening with a colander, a few homemade contraptions and a safety pin ended with a quiet reminder.
Sometimes the heavens really do declare something.
And sometimes all it takes to notice is a tiny pinprick of light.
What has caused you recently to look up, pause, and wonder at the hand of God?
