Because I Say So
The Wycliffe Weekender 25th July 26
Welcome to the Wycliffe Weekender!
We’re onto the Fifth Commandment ahead of the Zoom chat on Wednesday next week. Details for Loyal Lollards (paid subscribers) at the bottom. Become a paid subscriber here and join in:
Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)
Every parent is warned. This stage is coming. The cute baby becomes the tottering toddler who, in turn, becomes the Spanish Inquisition. The questions never stop. Looking at the world around them and trying to make sense of it, they just keep asking questions. Why is daddy taller than mummy? Why is this carrot orange? Why is the sun in the sky? Why can’t I touch that hot thing? Why will it hurt? No matter how much you try to explain what they are seeing and feeling and asking, the next question comes: “why?”
As you fold laundry, feed the cat and mop the floor, the questions keep coming until you break. There seems to be no way you can answer each question without prompting the next devastating follow-up question: “why?” Again and again the question comes until the parent cracks and resorts to the answer which feels like cheating: “because I say so”.
At the risk of sounding like a small child, I’m going to ask the question: “Why does it feel like cheating?” Why does “because I say so” feel like a last resort?
