Wednesday Wonder – September 25, 2024

Curiosity.

Is your curiosity still active? Whenever I spend time with my grandson, Damon, curiosity comes to the fore. The look on his face as he crawls around the house and discovers things brings a smile to my face. Those discoveries become discoveries to me as well. What he sees and discovers reminds me to stop and look at things differently.

Damon’s curiosity is fuelling mine. I have started to get more curious about the history of our faith. My spouse, Alan, and I, were watching yet another history program, this with a biblical bent, and I made the comment about needing to read more of a particular first century historian. Alan’s response was, “I have his complete works downstairs.” Guess what is sitting on my desk in my home office now? Yes, the complete works of Josephus. I am gaining more insight into the life and times of Jesus and his followers, and being reminded of things I may have forgotten since learning them in theological college. Hoping my curiosity about what Josephus shared will enhance what I can offer all of you in sermons and study groups.

It isn’t just ‘work stuff’ that I am curious about. I did some organizing of the many things I brought home when I helped my dad clean out all of my mom’s craft, knitting and sewing supplies. As I organized, I wondered what I could make, or what mom had thought she would do with some of these things. I got a little curious about why on earth she would have even bought some of it. Which then led to a personal reflection of why on earth did I bring it home with me instead of getting rid of it. What did I think I was going to do with it?

I wandered around the local library the other day. I was curious about what had changed since going there with my son. I hadn’t actually been to the library in years, at least not physically. I just download books onto my tablet now. No late fees, they just lock you out when your loan is due back. Works for me. I was surprised by how things had changed. It has a light and airy feeling now. There are places for people to work together and separately. There are cool chairs to sit in for reading. How the books are arranged has changed. And there are more than books to be borrowed. I truly enjoyed the time I spent browsing. And lo, and behold, I borrowed a couple of physical books! On things I had been curious about, but never bothered to investigate.

My curiosity has been fuelled of late by my grandson and the little bit of extra time on my hands as I recovered from surgery. But now that it has been sparked, I keep looking for ways to keep it going. Interesting place I hadn’t noticed before; I have a few minutes to stop and check it out. I have always wanted to go to one of those paint your own pottery places and see how it works. I am off to do that with a friend this afternoon. Will my curiosity encourage me to try a new painting technique? Maybe. Will it lead to fun and conversation with my friend? Definitely.

If you haven’t been feeling curious lately, I highly recommend it. You never know where it might lead. Maybe, for some of you, it will lead to finding out more about faith and the Bible, just like me. If so, come join me, and we will get curious about all that together.

Curiosity may be said to have killed the cat, but I have only found it bringing me back to life.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane