Eternal Curiosity

Don’t Settle for Narrow Views

A friend of mine once said that, if there is a god, he is so far beyond the scope of what any person could ever begin to imagine that it is ridiculous to be sticklers for strict religions and rules. The longer I live, the more I think this view is correct. What can any measly human ever claim to know about god? This reminded me of a song I know by a Christian group that I normally don’t like very much. This one song of theirs I enjoyed primarily for the poetry, part of which goes,

“What do I know of you, who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood but the shore along your ocean? Are you fire? Are you fury? Are you faithful? Are you beautiful? So what do I know? What do I know of Holy?”

The Eternal Curiosity

Humans have a hunger for a greater understanding. For some people the hunger is somewhat satisfied by faith, or philosophy, or science, or any mix thereof—but in any field, for every “answer” you find, a dozen more questions are dug up too. The quest and thirst are never-ending and eternal.

We are all of us captured in this destiny of seeking meaning to things we will never understand. We are like little children staring out of the bedroom windows at night staring at the stars and wishing we could understand how to trap them and hold them in our tiny soft hands like the way we hold fireflies—because all we know is relative to something else.

I am a child that sneaks out at night hunting for the fairies in the field, bare feet cold on the blue grass, asking “How do I reach the stars?” The stars are above me and I’m trying with all my heart to climb up to them. I am a wayfarer on the edge of the cliff overlooking the salty sea and asking the gray wind, “Where have I even stood but the shore along the ocean?” Not just “What do I know of Holy?” but “What do I know?”

Wanderlust of the Mind

We know what is real based on our senses and reason. But there lies in each of us a love of fantasy and magic. Sometimes it’s fun to think there might be Leprechauns in your shoes. And sometimes, though they can also be dangerous, irrational beliefs can help you get through hard times. Lots of people rely on their religious faith in times of crisis. I am not religious, but I love to let my mind wander sometimes.

We hold onto our little sparks and shadows. The things that we believe in. Our little bit of stolen faerie dust, our shard of glass that reflects another world within it.

There is another song I know that goes, “I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment. I am a wunderkind… destined to seek…destined to roam.” A destiny of wanderlust is ever before us.