Do you think of respect and dignity as being the same thing? There is an important distinction. You can give respect to other people, and you should, but you can’t give them dignity. That has to be generated internally. How much confidence do you have in your own story? Are you secure in your own identity, and able to conduct yourself with all that implies and the way it connects to your surroundings? Then you are living in your proper place and have acquired dignity as a result.

How much progress have you made in growth in the practice of your faith? Do you see spiritual progress more in terms of things you acquire or things you release? Both are valid aspects of spiritual growth but only one is usually emphasized. How do you view the things you have acquired? Do they facilitate your onward journey or impede it? The heavier the burden you carry, the slower you walk. Do you see your spiritual life as a journey? Do you see the parallel with carrying burdens? When you travel do you normally only take those things necessary for the journey?

Do you require proof for everything? This is a modern concept also described by those who adhere to it as being evidence based. This seems like a reasonable requirement, but is it? Is there anything you accept as true without proof? And this raises the further question, proof to whose satisfaction and what is admissible evidence, for these vary from one person to another. If truth is a larger concept than provability, then what criteria do you use to establish truth? Have you ever had something resonate with you and considered it to be true on that basis? Truth can be self-validating.

What does the Christian faith consist of? Do you see it as the affirmation of a list of essential doctrines, and diligence in preserving and conforming to the structures of your faith tradition? Don’t you describe your faith as a relationship with me? Does the above description sound relational? Have you noticed that the less that believers have a direct encounter with me the more they are committed to doctrine and structure and hierarchy and authority and titles and offices? Which do you think is of greater value?