One of the most important questions I ever learned to ask is why.
As children, asking why comes naturally. We question everything around us. Why is the sky blue? Why do birds fly? Why does a dog bark? We approach the world with curiosity rather than certainty. We aren’t yet burdened by the assumptions and biases that often shape how adults interpret people and situations.
As I grew older, I realized that many of the beliefs I held were formed without ever stopping to ask why. Like many people, I accepted ideas, traditions, and perspectives simply because they were familiar. The problem with that approach is that when we don’t ask why, we begin to view the world solely through our own lens. We become the reference point for interpreting everything around us. If that perspective is limited, flawed, or based on misinformation, it influences how we understand reality.
This realization became a central part of my journey and is one of the themes I explore in my memoir, The Cult—A Black American Project. Throughout my spiritual awakening, I discovered that growth required more than learning new things—it required unlearning many things I had accepted as truth without ever questioning them. Unlearning became one of the most important parts of my transformation.
I found that genuine understanding begins when we have the courage to challenge our assumptions. For me, that meant moving beyond my own reasoning and allowing God to become my reference point. The more I sought His guidance, the more I recognized that truth requires humility—the willingness to admit that I may not have all the answers and the courage to keep asking questions.
Today, I believe that asking why is not a sign of doubt; it is a sign of growth. It opens the door to deeper understanding, greater self-awareness, and a more authentic relationship with truth. Whether we are examining our beliefs, our experiences, or the world around us, transformation begins when we are willing to ask the question so many of us stop asking as adults:
Why?
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