Curiosity - The Wick of the Candle of Learning
March 23, 2025
We are into the third week of Lent and as we continue our journey to become purveyors of ‘Awe’ we are looking at curiosity. So, I’m curious… (see what I did there? LOL) I’m curious what you think of when you hear the word “curious”?
Curiosity kills the cat?
Curious George?
In both these examples, curiosity is presented as something to be avoided. Curiosity is what leads to mischief or trouble. But is it? Perhaps that is an adult view of curiosity.
My 3-year-old granddaughter Naomi is curious and always asking questions, in particular, Why? It’s time for dinner Naomi. Why? It’s time for your bath. Why? We need to brush your hair. Why? Mommy won’t be home for another hour. Why? That’s the sound of a chickadee. Why? I think many of us remember that stage of our child’s or grandchild’s development. Did you know that the average 3-4-year-old asks 107 questions an hour!!! Why? You ask? Apparently as their brains develop and they discover more and more about the world around them it is a natural way to learn even more. By the age of 3 or 4 they have already made many connections in their brains as to how things are connected or grouped together as well as how one thing leads to another thing happening. And naturally as they make those connections they just want to make more and more and so they question everything as they do their best to take in all the wonders around them. They also ask questions because they don’t always understand how things work. For example, I was out for a walk with my granddaughter and pointed out a tulip to her. She said, “No, Nana, that’s a flower”. I said a tulip is a kind of flower. Then I pointed out the daffodil next to it. And again, she looked at me like I was joking or playing a trick on her and laughed and said, “No Nana, that’s a flower!” William Arthur Ward wrote that “Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning”. And Voltaire wrote: “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers”.
My husband was a well-respected and brilliant business man known for his intellectual acumen and business savvy. He was always curious. He never took anything at face value. He always wanted to know more. And if he ever asked for ideas or suggestions, he would forbid his employees from putting down any ideas offered because he felt that would stifle creativity. When one of his kids would ask for advice and hear one of the say “Well I can’t do that because so and so said I couldn’t. He’d always respond with the words “Why not?’.
I’m not sure why it is that as we grow older, we tend to lose that sense of curiosity in our lives. My husband held on to his all his life.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity”
I’ve been reading a book that the Circles Study group here at Forest Hill read some time ago called “Women Rowing North” by Mary Piper. She wrote the groundbreaking book in the 90’s called Reviving Ophelia, about the particular insights surrounding teenaged girls’ experience. Her more recent book focuses on the experiences of women aged 60 and older. She suggests that it is often described as a woman’s happiest or most meaningful time of their lives. I think that for many women it is one of the first times in their lives when they can focus more fully on their own needs rather that the multiple demands on their time and energy in being responsible for others. One comment she made stood out for me. She said it is better to live a life with curiosity rather than with fear. I wouldn’t necessarily have thought of curiosity as being the opposite of fear but the more I think about it, it makes sense. What we fear is often the unknown or our lack of understanding of something. As we get to know the person or situation better, we tend to feel less fearful of it. But that takes curiosity. That takes a willingness to say, I don’t know everything, I need to learn more about this. Ever since I read that idea, I’ve been trying to be more intentional about doing, living and acting out of curiosity rather than fear. Instead of “I can’t I won’t I couldn’t” “I would never…I ask myself” Why? or Why not?
Apparently, there are 3 types of curiosity:
Diversive: an attraction to everything novel, a restless desire for new and the next (Moses & burning bush, Zacchaeus & J.C).
Epistemic: a deeper quest for knowledge and understanding requiring discipline, effort and persistence.
Empathic: a nuanced form of epistemic curiosity that is geared toward people rather than inert information.; a deep interest in the thoughts and feelings of other people. And there is a “sweet spot” of curiousity known as the “zone of proximal learning”. If we know too little or think we know too much, we tend to be less curious. Apparently, to stay within peak curiosity, we need to know enough about something to pique our interest but not enough of think ourselves experts on the subject.
So, you can see why maintaining a curiosity is helpful to keep our minds and hearts open to new experiences and relationships. This past week at Coffee and Conversation we talked about the multicultural characteristic of our society and how much that has increased over the past generation. We talked about our neighbours and people we encountered in our communities who were different than us. You can see where an attitude of curiosity would help getting to know our neighbours. Not the Diversive kind of curiosity, where we just monitor the comings and goings or difference of language or customs of our neighbours, but more epistemic, that requires us to ask questions, reach out, and empathic curiosity, where we really get to know our neighbours and to better understand their thoughts or feelings and actually build meaningful relationships.
Now, let’s take a look at todays’ gospel lesson with curiosity.
First of all, we read the first passage that describes some conversations happening between Jesus and some bystanders who have specific questions. Jesus is preaching about the complete transformation of the world that is at hand and the need for those who have ears the need to repent. In doing this Jesus addresses a misconception held by his listeners that those who experienced pain and suffering were being punished by God either for their own sins or those of their ancestors. In this passage they’re asking Jesus about two incidents where people came into harms way. First, the Galileans who were killed by enforcers of Pilate and then the 18 killed by a falling tower. It was assumed they were suffering the wrath of God presumably because of their sinfulness. But Jesus rebukes them and says, “No, they were not worse than any of you”. Daniel G. Deffenbaugh writes in his commentary of this passage that what is important is that everyone needs to repent because none of us are without sin or brokenness. It’s a word we associate particularly around Lent. We are doing penance of our sins, trying to make amends. Yet Jesus says this is not about us being perfect but rather about God’s mercy. Repentance, from the Greek word Metanoia, describes a complete turning away from former beliefs and actions in faithful acceptance of the ways of Jesus and his Kingdom. Instead of being stuck in our opinions for ideas, curiosity, gives us the opportunity to learn and grow and perhaps see the world differently as we open ourselves to new perspectives and ideas by asking questions and not taking everything at its face value. Jesus is often challenging his listeners to do just that.
Then Jesus goes on to talk about a fig tree. Why? Because like the imagery of other Scripture where the people of God are compared to a garden planted and cared for by God similarly the Fig tree represents those who are listening to Jesus’s message. The trees barrenness is said to represent the apathy and indecision of the people. In these passages, Jesus is reminding his listeners that time is of the essence, and it is passing quickly. He wants everyone to hear and start living their lives differently. When he was being asked about the Galileans who had died supposedly because of their sinfulness it is as if those asking the question did not see themselves as sinners as well. Remember the story take the log out of your own eye before you judge the splinter in someone else’s? Jesus is confronting those who see themselves as righteous while looking at others with contempt. Jesus wants them to go beyond the accepted norms and look at the situation differently. He wants them to be curious, ask questions to see if their assumptions are true or not. With the image of the Fig tree, he is asking are you bearing fruit as my followers or just taking up space. Are you walking the walk or just talking the talk? Jesus is lifting up the extravagance of God’s mercy by suggesting that the Fig tree not be cut down just yet, but to give the people another chance to show humility instead of self-righteousness, grace instead of judgment, curiosity instead of fear.
I’m curious, what is our response to Gods extravagant mercy, God giving us another chance to be better, more faithful, more curious?
Rodney Clapp writes, “We live in a day-not unlike that of the atrocity-rumouring Galileans – when everyone wants to blame everyone else for the ills of the world.” I think when we blame others for the ills of the world, it is often out of our own fear that things are not the same, or as we would like them to be. Part of my repentance this Lent, this season of turning way from old ways and being open to new ways guided by Jesus’ teachings, I’d like to intentionally focus more on curiosity rather than fear. I’d like to let my wonder and awe of the world around me guide my heart, rather my sense of knowing it all or being right. I’d like to go on more leisurely walks with my granddaughter and see the world through her eyes, full of wonder, awe and curiosity. I’d like that curiosity to help me be less fearful of the unknowns in my life, like the future, my health, where I’ll be living in 20 years or when I’ll die. I’d like each day to burn that wick of curiosity while I learn more about myself, my God and the world in which we live. To be more curious won’t kill us, it may lead us into some mischief, but that’s okay, we are reminded to live faithfully following the one who showed us the way, to bear fruit born of our curiosity. May it be so. Amen