“How curious!” Does that thought ever pop into your mind or slip out of your mouth?
Or have you been warned off being curious because “Curiosity killed the cat!”? I remember hearing someone tell the story about their son asking endless questions, until his father told him to stop, with the warning about the cat’s fate. The boy was quiet for two minutes, but then asked, “Dad, what was the cat curious about?”
Born with a fascination
It should come naturally to us. We are born with a fascination that grasps at the content of the world around us and builds up a sense of knowledge and understanding. My mother reminds me that as a small child, my favourite word was ‘Why?’ and I have fond memories of very slow walks with my own young children, who wanted to look at every pebble, plant or bug that they passed.
Somewhere along the line, we can lose that urge to wonder and discover and explore, taking the answers we are given, looking for an easier option, or forgetting to look around us as we walk through life.
“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” according to film director James Cameron. Albert Einstein remarked about himself that he had no special talent, “I am only passionately curious.” Whether it is breaking box office records or breaking the boundaries of science, it seems, being inquisitive and curious is a real benefit.
The life of faith and spirituality can become equally stultified. What is designed to be a voyage of discovery across the seas of our inner world of thoughts, feelings and motivations and the outer world beyond our senses and understanding, becomes a recitation of half-understood truths and a repetition of half-hearted practices, unless we remain open to awe, wonder, surprise and delight.
An invitation from Jesus
Jesus repeatedly invites people to consider, to listen, to look intently, to ponder the world around them and within them. He invites curiosity. Whether it’s world shaking events or a weed growing at the side of a field or observing what it means to be childlike as a child of God, Jesus says, “Pay attention.”
Curiosity keeps us alive in the fullest sense. It anticipates novelty, tempers fear, presents possibilities and paves the way to discoveries that change us and the world as we know it. It breaks open our assumptions, creates unexpected encounters and deepens our character.
Be open to life
Being a Christian doesn’t mean living with certainty: it means being open to life, inquisitive and curious To ask questions and to wonder about puzzles and paradoxes is not doubt: it is faith in search of understanding. And it makes us alive, present and open to endless change and growth. What could be more exciting?
Grace and peace,
Dave Bonny
