Many years ago, I had a mentor who said, “Don’t answer questions that people are not asking.” His lesson came in the context of a preaching class. It changed how I preached. I began to ask two questions: “What are people asking?” and “How can I help them find their questions?” …

Those things that are given to us in the normal course of the Orthodox Christian life – prayer, fasting, keeping the commandments, repentance, confession – are the arena where the questions are forged. Those who live in such a manner are setting themselves on a path where pearls are found, treasures revealed, coins discovered, the old crucified and the new made known ….

Fr. Stephen Freeman, To Know What We Don’t Know