Curiosity as a spiritual practice?!?!
You may be asking yourself if that is truly "a thing".
Well, I was CURIOUS, so I started doing some research recently and LO and BEHOLD (what a great expression!), it is!
Not only is it a spiritual practice, but Albert Einstein calls curiosity "holy". He writes this:
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but to be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
"Old Man's Advice to Youth: 'Never Lose a Holy Curiosity'". Life magazine, p. 64, May 02, 1955.
Dealing with Mystery, the unknown, it seems normal to be curious and therefore to have a holy curiosity. One of my favorite authors on the unknown is Thomas Merton. His prayer on the unknown from Thoughts in Solitude has helped me live into holy curiosity before I knew it was a spiritual practice.
"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
Asking questions is good; it is normal; it is holy.
We might even learn something new.
We will likely learn something new.
We can learn from so many things and people-- those who are different from us-- younger, older, from different places, those who are of different faiths, those who don't look like us or sound like us, even those who follow a different political party.
Yes, I believe we can learn from one another if we listen to one another, share our stories, and keep a holy curiosity.
We can learn from the marginalized, the oppressed, the unwanted, the ostracized. Who are those people in your community, in your state, in your country? Has that person ever been you?
In my state (and in many states right now), the transgender, non-binary community is being ostracized as bill are being written and passed against them. This matters to me. It matters to me on several levels--1-- on a human level, how other humans are being treated; 2-- on a faith level-- I don't believe it's how Jesus would treat these humans; and 3-- on the parental level.
I wonder where holy curiosity is among the legislature? Do people want to get to know their transgender and non-binary siblings? Do they want to hear their stories or is there something to the "difference" that keeps people in the legislature from seeking information to understand? Could ignorance and fear of the other be part of the barrier? That's where holy curiosity can come in-- getting to know 'the other'. With the bills that are in legislation, it feels that those on capitol hill have no understanding nor desire to understand what transgender and non-binary people experience.
They could attempt understanding. There is good science and research available for those who seek to learn and understand. There is information on gender affirming health care. The two links below show the importance for transgender health care. I am not going to get into all the statistics here about how gender affirming health care is life saving, but I wish and hope that legislature would have a holy curiosity toward the topic and would recognize that taking away gender affirming healthcare is anything but healthy. (The two links below are WPATH and WHO.)
WPATH-- World Professional Association for Transgender Health
WHO-- World Health Organization on gender incongruence and transgender health
How, you might ask, have I arrived to be here, to be someone that is open to listen to others?
In some ways, it started when I was you and I got to know all sorts of people. Camp played a role in it for me as well. As campers, we were all equal. It didn't matter who we were during the year or where we were from, etc.-- at camp, we were campers. Now, we did get into some big tribal/club competition and that mattered. :) In high school and in college I made friends with people of various pigmentation. In college I travelled to Spain and Mexico and saw the world from a different lens.
As I have traveled my faith pilgrimage over the years, I have met all sorts of people with deep faith in different places.
I have met many LGBTQ+ persons of deep faith, those who follow Christ and those of other faith traditions and backgrounds.
Holy curiosity to ask questions and to listen has helped me get to know "the other" rather than dismissing them simply because of differences or not fitting what I had been taught.
There is much room for mystery and the unknown, allowing growth and change to what I thought I knew and what I had been taught. As I remain open to the Holy Spirit who continues to teach me (as Jesus said in John 14:26--"The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.")
A few articles on the spiritual practice of curiosity:
The Spiritual Practice of Being Curious by Jean Wise
The Spiritual Practice of Being Curious 2 by Jean Wise
Holy Curiosity as a Way to think about effective listening
As I am curiously exploring curiosity as a spiritual practice and what it means to listen effectively and to have a "holy curiosity", here are some of the things I plan to practice:
- keep and open heart and mind toward others
- practice active listening
- ask open-ended questions
- allow curiosity to guide
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