A little girl asked her Mom, “Where do humans come from?”
Her Mom answered, “God made Adam and Eve and they had children and that’s how we all descend from.”
A few days later the girl asked her Dad the same question.
Her Dad answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which people evolved.”
The confused girl returned to her mother and said, “Mom, how is it possible that you told me that people were created by God, and Dad said people evolved from monkeys?”
Her Mom answered, “Well, dear, it’s very simple: I told you about my side of the family, and your father told you about his.”
Children are very curious. I remember getting annoyed with my son Tommy because he asked too many questions. When we grow up, we become busy with life, get into a routine and pattern and live predictable lives with very little curiosity about anything.
You heard the expression, big data. Every day humanity creates data and information in staggering quantities. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google once estimated that every two days humanity creates a quantity of data equivalent to the entire amount created from the dawn of time up until 2003. And he said that 5 years ago. Everyday humanity tweets 500 million times, shares 70 million photos on Instagram and watches 4 billion videos on Facebook. For every minute that passes, we upload 300 hours of new content on you tube.
I keep my curiosity alive because, there is so much to know and I know very little. I like to be in a marvel-mode as opposed to a mundane-mood.
Every night I watch Jeopardy. There are a total t of 60 questions/answers I should say spanning 12 topics each night. Most nights, I don't get any answers right. If the topic is Bible or religion, may be I will get a few here and there. And I am no dummy. I have spent 18years in graduate and post graduate school. I have a doctorate in theology and masters in psychology. I have 23 letters of the alphabet after my name. But still, I know only o.ooooooooooo 1 percent of the data and information out there.
My son Tommy is college and I look at some of this chemistry books. There is this chemical formula with starts.. CnH(2n + 1)OH (n ^1). I have no clue what that means and how that works. I am walking on Ramblewood blvd and I see this telephone technician standing in front of one of those central control boxes open with wires hanging all over; the guy knows what he is doing and how the whole thing works, and I am marveling because I have no clue how all that works.
I have no knowledge about technical, mechanical or scientific stuff. If life is about what I know and what I am capable of doing, we will be living in the stone age. Since I don't know much, I am curious about everything. How the planes fly, how the ships sail, how trains and cars run. I am curious about how a grocery store is organized, how an airport is operated and how a cruise ship gets ready to sail. I am curious about the computer, the calculator, the calendar, the cell phone.
I am curious about how a submarine operates, what happens in the Google headquarters in California; I am curious about how Geico comes up with these funny commercials. I am curious about everything. There is so much out there that I don't know nothing about.
I am curious about my neighbors; where they come from, what they do for a living, what is exciting about their jobs. Among my neighbors, there is USDA inspector, an insurance adjuster, an ophthalmologist, a building contractor, financial planner, a restaurant manager, two teachers, and a physical therapist. I know who lives in which house and what kind of cars they drive. It is all part of my curiosity. No, it is not stalking. I am just interested in them as fellow- humans, who they are, what makes them unique, what makes them roll. I love to hear stories of people's lives.
This is true of my work environment too. There are 16 people on my hospice team. I know about their families. I know what country they were born. I ask them questions, not because I am intrusive, but I am interested. I know what kind of car each of my team members drive. I don't follow them to find out. I pay attention.
We all work in the field visiting patients in various facilities. l see them driving to a nursing home or leaving one at the same time I am driving in. I just pay attention. Knowing what car someone drives is my way of caring about them. When I see them driving, I say a prayer.
Part of our job as hospice chaplain is that we have to do on-call twice a month. It is an 8 hour, shift during which you are called to visit a family if a patient dies.
I love going out on calls. It is an exciting opportunity to meet new people. I am going to walk into totally new situations and meet people whom I have never seen before.
Few weeks ago, I was called to attend the death of a patient in Hollywood. When I arrived there were 3 police officers, milling around the house. After I arrived, two of them left, but one stayed. We had to sit there for two hours waiting for the funeral home.
So I started talking to the policeman. I asked him: “Do you ever feel bad about giving traffic citations.?” He said no. Then he started telling me stories about the Canadian drivers who make illegal U turns and then argue with him about the tickets. He told me about a traffic stop that morning and the driver's excuse for speeding: “I was trying to keep up with traffic.” To which the cop replied, “There is no traffic.” And the replied with, “That’s how far behind I am.”
I was always kind of jealous about police officers taking their cars home. I wanted to know why it is better for the tax payer for the police to take the car home. The only benefit I thought was that having a police car in the driveway is good for neighborhood safety.
He enlightened me about what I was curious about, what I had no clue about. For example, if you give your car to the next officer after your 8 hour shift and he drives for another 8 hours and the next officer for another 8 hours...three separate drivers with different driving habits, continuously driving the same car is not good for the car in the long run. There are so many equipments in police car these days like computer, gas masks, revolvers, and accountability becomes an issue when different people use the same car.
Then I was curious about how many things a policeman had to carry on his person. He was happy to show me. He has a gun, flashlight, hand cuffs, maize, a folded baton, and a radio. I had an easier job because I can can go to work without any of those and this guy had to carry all that. I had a new appreciation for the job the police do..
I have a good friend who is curious like me and so he became an Uber driver. Anyone with a good car and likes driving and loves people can work for Uber and earn good money in the process.
If you are Uber driver, you have no idea who your next passenger is going to be. You could meet fascinating people from all parts of the country, even all parts of the world.
My friend had an interesting conversation last week with a passenger. After the initial pleasantries, my friend asked the passenger: “So what do you do for a living?”Without skipping a beat, the passenger said:”I am a drug dealer.” My friend who is a hospice chaplain, immediately replied: “Me too.” They were both curious about each other. He told the chaplain that he was trying to be funny. He was actually a pharmacist, who is technically, a “drug dealer.”
The pharmacist was curious about how the chaplain could be a drug dealer. The chaplain solemnly said: “Part of my job is to preach religion; didn't Karl Marx say that religion is the opium of the people?” The passenger laughed out loud. He was impressed by the clever Uber driver who was a hospice chaplain. They had a lively conversation about religion in America and the chaplain had a chance to talk about how Jesus changed his life.
I finished reading a book that just came out “A curious Mind” by Brian Grazer. He is a famous Hollywood producer of movies like Apollo 13, A beautiful mind. He has received 47 Oscar nominations and 149 Emmy nominations for movies and TV shows. He has been named TIME's 100 influential people in the world. Mr. Grazer attributes all his success and happiness to having what he calls, “curiosity conversations” with people. (good book to read).
What has curiosity to do with spirituality? If spirituality is about loving people, then showing interest in people and getting to know them is a good way of loving them. It makes loving them easier. If you are afraid of people or paranoid about them, more than likely, you don't know anything about them.
I have a little job in this church. When someone joins the church I write a blurb about them in the church chatter. I talk to them about who they are, what they like about this church, where they came from faith-wise and family-wise and it is a fascinating conversation. After that conversation, my feelings about them are very different. Knowing about them makes me a little closer to them which makes it easy to love them.
So curiosity is not about being nosy but being nice. It is not about being a stalker but a broker—brokering connections, communion and communication. It is not about interfering in people's privacy but being inquisitive about the mystery of their being. It is not for finding out their secrets; it is because I find people sacred. The purpose of curiosity is not to generate gossip, but to foster fellowship. Ultimately curiosity is about experiencing and loving God who is the ultimate mystery.
My first book was titled God is Plural. It has nothing to do with many Gods but everything to do with the many, who are manifestations of the One God. You experience the One by loving the many. I firmly believe that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. The more images I connect with, the better picture of God I have. If your circle of concern is too small, your God is likely to be very small. If you have no interest in connecting with the spark of divinity in others, you are more than likely hiding behind walls of fear, suspicion and separation.
Was Jesus curious? I think so. Obviously, people were curious about Jesus. That is why the crowd followed him where ever he went.
There is a beautiful story of a man, in the gospel of Luke chapter 19, who was so curious about Jesus that he climbed on a sycamore tree to see him. His name was Zacheus. Visualize a short, pudgy guy, who was a tax collector, who was despised by society, climbing on a tree and hiding behind leaves to take a peek at Jesus.
It seems like Jesus was equally curious about Zacheus. Zacheus just wanted to just look at Jesus from a distance. But Jesus' curiosity was more personal. He not only stopped under the tree and looked up, he wanted to visit with Zacheus in his house. And we know what happened after that visit. A curious look turned into a life changing event for Zacheus. A greedy man who was exploiting the poor was transformed and he was willing to give away half of his wealth to the poor and pay restitution for all his misdeeds.
Look at the story of Nathaniel who was a friend of Philip whom Jesus had called. (Jn 1). Philip went and told Nathaniel about Jesus. But Nathaniel brushed him off asking “what good can come out Nazareth.” But Philip invited him to come and see.
When he saw Nathaniel approaching, Jesus complimented him by saying: “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” Look at the generosity of Jesus complementing a man who had ridiculed him.
Nathaniel was surprised by what Jesus said: “How do you know me”? We haven't met before” We have had no prior contacts.” And Jesus said: “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you.”
Nathaniel was dumbfounded. He was humbled that Jesus was interested in him even though he was no interested in Jesus. He didn't notice Jesus. But Jesus noticed him. He didn't care for Jesus, but Jesus cared for him. And that changed his life.
How does Jesus care for people today? He uses us, his disciples, to continue his job of caring for people. Jesus has no eyes today, except ours; Jesus has no ears today, except ours; We are the eyes and ears, the hands and feet and heart of Jesus in today's world. We are the ones we have been waiting for.
With deep humility, I would even say: We are the second coming of Christ! I know you have grandiose images about the coming of Christ on chariots of fire with blazing saddles. I think it is indulging in fantasy to escape and avoid our responsibility to be Jesus-like in today's world.
When I tell people at work what kind of car they drive, they are surprised. They look at me like Nathaniel. “How do you know, I never told you about it.” they say. And like Jesus told Nathaniel, I tell them:”When you were getting out of your car at that Nursing home, I saw you.”
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to pay attention to others. We are called to connect with others and care about them. That is our calling card. Don't go through life all wrapped up in your little life. Pay attention to the people around you. Expand your horizons; show concern; be interested in others. Be curious about who they are and what they do. Share stories. It will change your life and theirs too.
Every encounter Jesus had with people were life changing for the people he met.
As disciples, we are called to re-enact and re-create those encounters with people today and transform their lives and ours in that process.
