During our most recent event for Crossroads-Houston, we had the opportunity to present Dr. John Lienhard. He is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston, and the voice and author of “The Engines of Ingenuity,” a daily 3-minute show on National Public Radio that tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity. Our first meeting with Dr. Lienhard was surprising: while posting flyers at the University of Houston for another Crossroads event, a chance encounter with him soon turned into an hour-long conversation. During that time, we discussed our desire to share our passion for culture with the general public. “Culture is not just for experts, but for everybody. It is part of our human desire,” we said. He replied, “Yes, but you have to have a question alive.” We are always attracted to people that reawaken this question in us, so we invited Dr. Lienhard to speak at one of our events! We proposed that he speak about the driving force behind discovery and invention, as we wanted to better understand the event of discovery. But Dr. Lienhard did not agree to the proposed topic, and at that point we were no longer in control of the event. At the same time, his reaction was a provocation to ask ourselves what we were looking for. What were we expecting? What was being asked of us? It was evident that there was a risk and that reality was imposing itself, it was given to us. Our curiosity increased and we decided to make space for what was in front of us. So, our response to Dr. Lienhard became a reaffirmation of our original impetus for the work of Crossroads and the source of our certainty. We gave total freedom to Dr. Lienhard with his topic, as we became more interested in his approach than in our “good ideas.” This placed us in a position of total poverty, openness, and curiosity. We were more attentive to his words because it was all a surprise. Indeed, even our usual format was changed. There was no moderator, and Dr. Lienhard left about half of his speaking time for questions from the public, which turned into a wonderful one discussion unlike any we have ever had. The audience was very much attentive and engaged in the discussion. In responding to a question about the constant “need” for invention, Dr. Lienhard spoke about how invention and discovery begets more questions, and hence more need for invention and discovery. “The tree of man is always restless. Discovery will never stop because this is what constitutes man,” he said. Lastly, Dr. Lienhard also spoke about the “stages of invention,” one of which is the need to share it with a trustworthy friend. In fact, Dr. Lienhard asserted that friendship is a necessary element for invention. Afterwards, we went for dinner, as is our tradition after every event. At the end of the evening, as we were thanking Dr. Lienhard for his time and his presentation, his wife asked, “What is Crossroads? What is your agenda?” We found ourselves surprisingly free to speak not only of our desire for knowledge and truth, but also about the origin of our curiosity being our encounter with Christ. In a very simple way, we expressed that we had no agenda other than the honest pursuit of the truth in all things. This was also the reason for our fearlessness in front of any topic. At this point, Dr. Lienhard’s countenance changed, and with a warm smile conceding the sincerity and truth of our statements, he said, “This is so fascinating.” Having accepted the risk of trusting him instead of our ideas on how the event should have transpired, we found ourselves humble in front of it and in front of the dinner. This gave us a priceless freedom that is not attainable by possession, but simply by affirming that which is before us.

Francesca, Sergio, and Eveline, Texas, USA