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~

I recently attended a discussion where the facilitator presented this particular quotation and proposed the idea that indulging our curiosity is actually a form of spiritual practice.  Learning can be a sacred act.  As someone who is constantly contemplating how I can deepen my own spiritual practice and further my personal journey, this instantly appealled to me on several levels. 

Since homeschooling our children is my primary daily focus these days, I first went there.  It is interesting that recent data shows a shift in the primary motivation to homeschool in this country.  After a decided peak in the number of families choosing to home educate in order to ensure a Biblically-based education,  other more varied reasons are starting to catch up.  However, families who are not Christian are also choosing to homeschool in order to ensure a values-based education.  The public system has been forced to secularize and sanitize its curriculum to an extreme and that is affecting the decision making process of Christian and non-Christian families alike when it comes to the educational path their children will travel.  All homeschoolers may no longer be using the Bible to do it, but a majority of them still want to ensure their children do receive some sort of positive character building experience that they feel the mainstream system no longer provides.  But Einstein’s words suggest we might be going about this a bit cockeyed.  Perhaps the learning process itself is just the values-based, character building path we were seeking.  Perhaps we should see the two goals of spiritual and secular education as a single shining path of lifelong learning, winding through one holy curiosity after another and leading us into wholeness.

Revisiting how I view pursuing random bits of knowledge for myself has also been invigorating.  Seeing as we end up at the library a minimum of once a week, I often spot an armload of books that interest me personally, in addition to whatever the kids are into at the time.  They usually consist of a random hodgepodge of topics that have currently peaked my interest.  The same can be said of my assorted podcast subscriptions and current playlist.  Sometimes in the evenings, when I have finally managed to render the Triad unconscious, I struggle with what to do with the few hours I have to myself.  Do dishes?  Do yoga? Chat with Patris Maximus?  Watch that DVR’d episode of something-or-other?  Meditate?  Journal?  Blog?  Read a novel?  Read non-fiction?  Plan out a Girl Scout meeting?  Or a tea party?  The internal deliberation can get out of control and Patris Maximus may point out that I’m beginning to turn an alarming shade of purple and should stop thinking about whatever it is that I’m thinking about because I’m getting nowhere good with it.  I am also a habitual multi-tasker.  I have my ear buds in as I’m typing this.  So I often try to do more than one thing at a time to maximize my efforts.  But after thinking about what ole’ Albert had to say, I got a bit of a handle on a tiny chunk of my evening hours of peace and quiet.  I made a list of my own personal Holy Curiosities.  They are things I am in awe of.  Things I am just bursting to know more about.  Things that, as I learn more about them, fill me with wonder at and gratitude for the world around me.  Now my reading material and my evenings are becoming a tad more organized.  And I’ve put my meditation practice (which was mostly frustrating me lately anyway) on hold for a different sort of spiritual practice; a two-for-one sort of practice which the multitasker in me is thrilled with.  

When I sit down to revel in a Holy Curiosity, I take deep breaths and I get really comfortable.  I may even have something indulgent in hand to sip or nibble.  But before I crack the book or load the podcast or click on the search engine, I take a moment to be open.  I open to the wonder of what I am about to take time to take in.  It is a deeply satisfying experience.  Turning to a book is nothing new in the human spiritual experience.  There are holy books for every dogmatic path.  But what if every book had the potential to be holy?  For me, the line between secular and spiritual is blurring and I’m much more comfortable with that than I would have been previously.  This is where the questioning has led me.  And for now, I really like it here.  Let Holy Curiosity abound!  I’ll be grateful for every relative moment of it.