We’ve all heard the proverb: “Curiosity killed the cat.” Yet I remember what my mother always added: “But satisfaction brought it back to life again!” So, which is it? Is curiosity something dangerous and should be avoided? Or is it something life-giving and should be encouraged and even nourished? What does the Bible say? The Bible presents both views of curiosity. In Genesis 3, for example, Adam and Eve’s curiosity with that talking snake and forbidden fruit led to their sin and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. On the other hand, Moses’ curiosity with the burning bush, led to his life-altering encounter with the Living God.
What about Jesus? What do his life and teachings say about curiosity? To begin with, Jesus appears to have been a very curious person. When he was only twelve, he went to the huge city of Jerusalem with his parents to celebrate the Passover. But after the festivities, he missed the bus back to Nazareth. How did that happen? Wasn’t it because his profound curiosity led him back to the Temple to engage in theological conversations with the elders there?
Jesus’ parables reveal the fruits of his insatiable curiosity. They are filled with his knowledge of plants, animals, weather patterns, house construction, yoke-making, shepherds, farming, bread baking, wine-making. Because he was keenly fascinated with people, he became very knowledgable about human relationships. He appreciated the devotion parents had for their children as well as the devotion of a Roman soldier for his ill servant. Jesus knew the comfort of human friendship as well as the pain of betrayal. He saw first hand the devastating effects of illness, the lasting effects of cruelty, as well as the healing power of tenderness and forgiveness.
Perhaps my favorite gospel story that features curiosity is Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Zacchaeus was so curious about who Jesus was, that he made a spectacle of himself by climbing up a tree just to get a glimpse of him. Catching sight of this grown man up in that tree, must have piqued Jesus’ curiosity. So he stops, addresses him by name (Zacchaeus’s bad reputation was widely known!), and tells him to come down. Then Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’ home for dinner! Over a meal of perhaps tilapia, wheat flatbread, and fine wine, these two men end up engaging in a life-giving conversation–all because both of them had a lively curiosity!
Ian Leslie has written a book on curiosity entitled Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It. He warns that “Curiosity is vulnerable to benign neglect”–especially as we age. Sometimes we’re just too busy or too tired to be curious. He cautions, “If you allow yourself to become incurious, your life will be drained of color, interest, and pleasure.” I suspect most of you reading this reflection have a pretty healthy curiosity. Why else would you be reading it?
Let me close this reflection with a few quotes from others who have sung the praises of curiosity. Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “I think at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow her child with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.” And William Arthur Ward wrote, “Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.”
But I like best what Fr. Ronald Rolheiser said in his book, The Holy Longing. He calls curiosity “a sacred gift.” It is part of the “insatiable desire” that God put inside of the human soul. This desire is “the fire inside of us that points to Divinity.”
For reflection:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 meaning “not curious at all” and 10 meaning “very curious,” where do you fall? Are you content with your level of curiosity?
Has your curiosity ever gotten you in trouble? Has it ever led to a significant life-giving change for you?
When you were a child, who nourished your curiosity? How did they do it?
What are some ways we can nourish the curiosity of others–our children, grandchildren, friends, family members? Do you have any ways you keep your own curiosity alive?
PS: Thank you for your prayers for the retreat I facilitated last week for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Buffalo, NY, their Associates, and members from three other religious congregations who live with the SSJ’s. They are the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, the Franciscan Sisters originally of Williamsville, NY, and the Sisters of Social Service. It was a blessing for me to be in their midst! A special thank you to Sister Liz who kindly helped me throughout the week–and to Meghan who patiently helped me to show my videos!
Rolheiser writes that God has put into our human souls the “desire to understand the profound and loving mystery of God.” This song for me has always captured some of that profound and loving mystery of God. It’s Barbara Farrell’s beautiful “O God, Beyond All Names.” Some of the words that stand out for me are these: “You have made us in your image… all around us we have known you… you are laboring within us… we are bringing you to birth…”
I encourage you to share a thought or two with us below. I assure you we all enjoy hearing from our readers!
18 Responses
Good morning everyone!
This post gave me pause as to the significance of curiosity; a double edged sword no doubt. I suspect this gift from our Creator was designed to help us learn from our mistakes as well as seek out that which intrigues us so much that we gain a new perspective and/or appreciation for what might otherwise go unnoticed.
Eight is my level of curiosity with most coming from a desire to know why or understand such as unfamiliar vocabulary. My curiosity will NOT permit me to move on until I figure out the meaning and relative context, however the other side of that coin has also put me in some rather precarious situations where curiosity led me to some life-changing lessons in which my actions revealed the impact/consequences of those choices.
In my estimation, God, in His omnipotent wisdom, embeds curiosity within as a tool to the steppingstones on the journey to stand before Him on that day of reckoning. It is the wise man or woman who embraces this gift as a means to the ultimate end.
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
Greetings from the great state of Minnesota, where my wife and I have had the blessing this past week of living in the same house of two VERY energetic toddlers, both under three, both able to scamper about, both curious about EVERYTHING!!!! We quickly found out that keeping up with their curiosity can be EXAUSTING!!! (Sidenote: people who want to “live in the moment” need only care for such toddlers — who always live in the moment — for an hour!). Oh, and they love word “Why.”
“Okay, now, you have to eat your vegetables.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re good for you.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll make you big and strong.”
“Why?”
(Another sidenote: When chocolate was involved, there was nary a mention of the why or wherefore of such deliciousness!)
Good morning!
I guess I’ve always been curious and as a young person when I had questions my dad would tell me to “look it up” which led me to the library. I spent much time with books. When in college I studied journalism where I learned the important 5 w’s and one h. (As shown in one of your pictures). Now I have grandchildren who are very curious and as John pointed out they always ask WHY. Love the song today also. Thanks
Loved your blog this morning, Sister. Without being curious, how do we learn? I have to share with all this little incident from long ago with my then 5 year old grandson. We were picking strawberries…me, and my 2 grandsons. Looking up from time to time, I noticed this grandson. Instead of picking strawberries, there he stood with a milkweed pod in his hand…pulling it apart, dissecting it. What was this strange thing all about?
Many thanks for this one, Sr. Melannie. With a wink, I forwarded this to my 25-year-old son, who sometimes looses patience with me and my inquiries about his life. I told him he could blame his grandmother for requesting a favor from a fairy godmother. I’m especially hoping he’ll enjoy the biblical references (especially your light-hearted descriptions) because he’s recently found a healthy curiosity regarding his own religious faith.
Good morning Sister Melannie and everyone,
Thank you for today’s song choice! The lyrics touched a place within me most profoundly. To imagine that my living somehow gives birth to God is nothing short of miraculous. Yes, Scripture does in fact affirm this Promise, but something in the wording of the song struck for me a Joyous “aha” moment.
I feel my early adult life was blessed with adventure – maybe a sister to curiosity. But as you point out, with age adventures wane, and we need to be intentional not to lose those childlike sparks.
God’s blessings!
As a retired researcher, I would say I have a curiosity level of 9. I always wanted to know why strategies worked or did not work in education. Thanks for a thought provoking blog Sister Melannie!
Thank you. Sister the song was very
Meaningful and the way it was chanted
reminded me of my Ccovent days.
Blessings
Kathy k
Great blog and I want that song for my funeral, what a gift!
I think I am an 8 or 9 – as an actor, it is a necessity!
My father was a journalist and loved the etymology of words. My mother was as smart as he was, or smarter he thought – her gift of mathematics enabled her to budget so that they could feed us 7 kids and mom and pop as well. They both read extensively and encouraged us to learn from everything as well.
Thank you Melannie, once again for an inspiring blog reflection and lesson. I would say my curiosity level is a healthy 8 now. In my younger years it was most assuredly and 11-12! I’m curious about people, who they are, what they think about, what do they love & cherish. I love history and reading and parables in the gospels. Some of my most life changing experiences have come about by exploring questions sought and answered by relationships and reading. Thank you for the song video too, pointing out the beauty of and fascination with “we are made in the image of the creator”.
My curiosity is a good 9.25. I want to know about all things, and am interested in learning. I have set out, this remainder of August, to compose a new vision board for myself, of what is yet to be accomplished in the 10-20 years I have going forward. There is so much to do, and so little time! This essay came at he perfect time for me. Love, love is all you need.
Oh! I’m an 8! My grandkids call me Gramma fix. Since I was small and took apart my dad’s pocket watch. I have been taking things apart and putting them back together. Sometimes, maybe, even better than they started out. I love to do stain glass and quilting and just about anything where a person must use the gifts our good Lord gave us! I too would like that song at my funeral. Maybe at communion time?
Thanks for today’s gift and all the other gifts you share. Bernadette Farrell’s song is moving. The singer makes me feel reverent. As an older fellow, I admit to curbing my curiosity, frequently pricking me, because I trust that all wonders and delights coming to me require my patience for discovery in the great beyond. Still, when I have more leisure than self-discipline, I love what YouTube has picked out from my algorithms.
I never thought of myself as curious, per se, but as I read all the responses, I realize that is what I am. I’ve always been an avid reader, starting as early as I learned to read…..spending much time in our small public library in our small town in the late 40’s and 50’s.
I think my curiosity has always been leaning towards what makes people tick and relationships. This is very strong desire nowadays to discover more about God, love, forgiveness, mercy, the common good, etc. Even though I am in my 80’s now, I continue to yearn for more understading about God and how others perceive Him and try to see how I am trying to give birth to the presence of God in MY living and ultimately to my dying.
I recently read Ronald Rolheiser’s book “Insane for the Light” which is excellent in helping me understand what that all means.
I guess I would have to say that I am an 8 or 9 on the curiousity scale.
BTW, the picture of the 2 little guys is so darned cute….I have 3 little great grandsons about that age and I can just see them with their little caps on trying to catch whatever it is they are after…..makes me smile!
Thank You, Sr. Melannie, once again!
Mary
What a great topic! Loved it! Loved it! Thank you Sister
I am satisfied with my level of curiosity but my relationship with curiosity is confused. St. Bernard says curiosity is a bad thing. Curiosity led me to a mass by the recently excommunicated SSPX well before they were excommunicated and I stayed for 18 months. Curiosity can also lead me to churches or learning. In the grand scheme of things, curiosity ends up putting something new on my plate that I am ill-prepared for. On the other hand, I believe God presents things to us through instruments such as people, family and superiors that show us a path to take. Curiosity seems more like personal initiative to me. Without guardrails, curiosity can lead you down dangerous rabbit holes as it has me.
I’m curious to a fault. Without “guardrails” as Brandon notes, like discipline and focus, curiosity can become endless distraction and temptation. This tendency is exacerbated by the internet and social media with their endless stream of “content”. While curiosity helped make me a good student and lifelong learner, I’m very leery of proposing it as a virtue without regard to these enormous hazards of our time.
Oh Sister, that’s one of my favorite songs! It speaks to my soul. I never thought about having it at my funeral! Thank you to the others!
I believe we have to keep learning and I am curious about many things. 81yrs and I’m still learning, sometimes life’s lessons!