I was recently listening to a TED Talk on the internet that featured a research scientist talking about her scientific discoveries. She introduced herself as a person who had always been curious as a child, wondering about things like how fish swim or why water freezes in the winter. These may seem simple questions, but to her young mind they were fascinating opportunities for research, even then.
The speaker’s comments resonated with me, as I thought about children I know and their natural curiosity, evidenced in their incessant questions of “Why?” and in their stopping to examine an ant crawling along on the sidewalk or the new flower that just bloomed. I realized that as a Christian Scientist it is so important to nurture that childlike curiosity that she mentioned. In fact, to me, her comments opened up a statement Jesus made about children to a broader meaning than I had previously considered. He said, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15). I tend to think of childlike qualities as receptivity, innocence, purity, and ready acceptance of truth. But what about curiosity? Curiosity is a most wonderful, natural attribute in life, and it should be nurtured—not just in children, but in us all, because it leads to new discoveries and changes of thought that are divinely inspired.
To me, spiritual curiosity can be a prayer. It is the desire to know and feel the presence of God in ways that we can understand and demonstrate in our daily lives. It opens up new views of familiar passages and ideas and can change our thought in life-changing ways, bringing healing.
