Saturday, May 06, 2006

holy curiosity


“The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life,
of the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend
a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Albert Einstein

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another related quote comes from the artist MC Escher

"To wonder in itself is a wonder"

Yes we are God's masterpieces. Reflecting the infinate but broken and finite

- Henk

Anonymous said...

The more curiosity we have the more room we allow our selves to let God work in our lives. The that is one of the beauties of our prefect maker.
-J.G

Anonymous said...

And our "perfect maker" is the "unmoved mover" in Aquinas's model of the universe, the source of all living motion and thinking, and all learning eventually leads back to Him. Without learning we die, because the universe was designed by God to be understood, not all at once, but in strands, like "strings", i guess. And we learn by questioning, as Einstein says, and by making mistakes, proofing, but by reasoning with our curiosity so that it does not take us into places we don't want to be. Just some thoughts, but it's important to note that Einstein did not believe in a "personal" God, only a creator, but perhaps that is only what he said he believed. peace.

Scott said...

Henk, I like the Escher quote!

JG, that’s a good point: curiosity can help keep us open to the Creator’s work in, around, and through us. It’s interesting to note that legalism abhors pure curiosity.

Herr t-wolf, solid and thought-stirring observations as usual... As for Einstein, I try to take his wisdom as offered: with no strings attached (pun intended). I love the phrase “holy curiosity” -- it’s deep and lovely, and it reminds me to worship...