A tradition from very ancient times was for people to go out into the desert to seek out a mystic who had retreated to the desert to find a place where they could fully connect with Godde*. When the pilgrim found the mystic the tradition was to ask them for a word - a word or phrase that they could ponder for days, weeks, months, the whole year or even a lifetime. In the absence of a desert mystic we randomly selected words and asked Godde to use that word to nourish us or to challenge us, for a word to maybe wrestle with or maybe to grow into.
If you would like a word and weren't part of our gathering on Sunday I will happily pick one for you, message me here and ask me to choose a word at random for you.
Curiosity was my epiphany word for last year and It appears that I wanted to write to this emotion and way of being and back in September of 2022, I was obviously feeling that curiosity deserved a letter. Here’s what I wrote:
Dear Curiosity
Thank you for hanging around into adulthood. I know we spent much time together when I was a child but thank you for not drying up, turning off, or leaving. I sometimes meet adults who lost you somewhere along the way in their pursuit of certainty. I’m glad you stuck it out with me and encouraged me to hold onto the place of uncertainty and all the ‘what ifs’.
I appreciate your ‘what if’ question, it has taken me on many an adventure. I wonder is another great starter for any sentence and I feel that’s one that you prompt as we explore the world together. You and your friends Inspired and Creative have been my mainstays and I appreciated that with you three there are endless possibilities. You show me other options, and you point out the incongruous or absurd and you always encourage play.
Dear Curiosity, I feel like I’d like to keep you for a long, long time, forever if I may. I don’t want to settle for ‘I know’ but stick with ‘I wonder’ and ‘What if’ and ‘Do you suppose.’ Those questions and starts feel like the igniters of adventure and trampolines to take my thinking and bounce it off the walls in all directions.
My dear Curiosity, I enjoyed you as a small child as we explored the world together. I loved you in school, inspiring learning and exploring topics that took my imagination on wonderful journeys. I love you still in learning and in growing as an adult. There is so much I do not know and have not seen yet and so I’m going to need you to keep tracking with me.
I need you in regards to people too, not just places or things or situations. Build my curiosity skills in regards to others. May you always be there to encourage me to ask good questions and really listen to the answer, to help me to read people a little like I read books with so much going on between the lines.
And while we are on the subject of books… there’s the bible. I want to always have you by my side as I read the bible and also as I read what others say about the bible. Help me to have an open-minded curiosity towards it all. I know that I don’t know. I know that I look through my own eyes and with my own story and I never see the whole picture. Help me never to forget that.
Thanks for being my life companion.
On to the next adventure.
Sarah
This leads nicely into the book study we are going to be embarking on in small groups.
Love Matters More by Jared Byas is about learning to read the bible with curiosity. More 'what if' than 'I know'. It is going to be a fun one. We'd love you to sign up for a group - space is limited so don't hang about.
And while we are on the subject of fun... the word I chose this morning was 'JOY' Watch out 2023! This will be a good one!