“If we are to use the words ‘childish’ and ‘infantile’ as terms of disapproval, we must make sure that they refer only to those characteristics of childhood which we become better and happier by outgrowing. Who in his sense would not keep, if he could, that tireless curiosity, that intensity of imagination, that facility of suspending disbelief, that unspoiled appetite, that readiness to wonder, to pity, and to admire?” – CS Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism
Curiosity is the sixth and final building block I want to explore in this series. Like wonderment, it is one of those areas that I believe is meant to mature and become more robust in our adulthood, not fade and disappear. We are not meant to grow out of curiosity; we are meant to grow further into it.
Some time ago I watched a Ted Talk on the experimental mind. The speaker shared the perspective that babies naturally view the world this way. EVERYTHING within reach of their hands, feet, or mouth gets subjected to unbridled curiosity and experimentation. Take a simple piece of paper that baby Milly finds on the floor. Immediate investigation ensues. Can I eat it? Can I hit something with it? Can I break, bend, or squish it? Can I take it with me? Can I give it away? There is a whole world of things to discover, and a miniscule database of the known. Experimentation is ongoing and relentless, and as every parent knows, entirely without fear or limitation.
There are some who grow up in an environment where curiosity is continually nurtured, and the child growing into an adult learns both the safety and the boundaries. But I think that a vast percentage of people didn’t have that kind of platform. Questions were answered, information was given when required, but the expectation was that we would stop asking. And most certainly when it came to the taboo topics.
One of the things that I deeply appreciate about the leadership of Arthur Burk at SLG is that from the beginning, he encouraged the “why” question about what we were doing. He knew that if we understood the “why”, we could enter into the heart of the decision or direction and know how to make a choice of our own that would align with it. But many leaders are lacking the legitimacy to allow themselves to be questioned. And that is an environment that many people had in the home, the church, or the marketplace. Few things will shut down curiosity faster than the wounded ego of someone in a position of power over us.
But it isn’t always an issue of leadership. Curiosity often fades as we learn what we need to know to live. Our lives take on more and more complexity and we simply don’t have the energy or bandwidth to wonder and wander through the unknown. The things we know are manageable. Asking questions always poses the risk of upsetting the apple cart.
I don’t know what kind of environment you live in – whether your naturally curious mind was preserved or has taken some serious hits in your journey. But I would like to propose the idea that it IS possible to regain some of that childlike “tireless curiosity”, and that it would do you and I a world of good to pursue it. An inquiring mind is a fantastic onramp to awe. How better to see new facets of the nature of God?
Perhaps the best place to begin is your design. You don’t have to be curious about everything. Were there topics that you were eager to learn about as a child? A young adult? In college or beyond? If those have faded and fallen to the wayside, what would happen if you revisited them? What if you gave God the opportunity to revive your sense of curiosity in an area where He already prepared you to hunger to know? If you regain the freedom to wonder and investigate in a place where the grace of God is flowing, it will likely spill over into other areas of your life. Who knows around what corner or behind what door you will find Him.
Throughout this series on practicing awe, we explored six building blocks: reverence, gratitude, delight, wonderment, expectation, and curiosity. If we will take the time to explore their expressions in our lives, we will most certainly find places where we can heal and grow and expand into the beauty of a new tapestry of awe. I encourage you to spend time on each one of them. Maybe take a month for each. Go back through the previous blogs in this series if you need some ideas to start you off. Invite God to show you where the blockages are if you are below zero, and then how to build it into your lifestyle.
Not only will your relationship with God be transformed and empowered, you will also become a window through which others can see a God they’ve never seen before.
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