It’s only human to be curious.
After seeing a great performance—play, concert, dance—sometimes we really want to see the performer—the actor, musician, dancer, to see who he/she really is. We’re so impressed we want to learn more about the person who did such a great job.
The performance, of course, reveals a little about the performer, but only a little . . .
– every tweet reveals something about the tweeter.
– every speech reveals something about the speaker.
– every painting reveals something about the painter.
– every building reveals something about the architect.
– every lie reveals something about the liar.
– every loving act reveals something about the lover.
– every torture reveals something about the torturer.
No matter what, we never learn everything; in a way, everyone is ultimately a mystery.
As we see the cosmos, the whole universe, the earth, and all it contains, it reveals a little about their source, their origin, their maker, but only a little.
Overwhelmed by the vastness, the power, the energy, the complexity, and the beauty of it all, we want to learn more about their creation and their creator [or Supreme Being, Source, Maker, Begetter, Father, Mother, Parent—the names vary].
We don’t even know what we want to know! It’s like an insatiable hunger, and, no matter what we discover, we yearn for more.
St. Augustine of Hippo got it right when he said, “Fecisti nos ad te, Domine, et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.” (“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”)
Notice Augustine said that it is our heart that is yearning, not our head.
Of course our head is yearning, too. We can’t help the restless questing to know, to understand, to comprehend, that is built into our very essence and being.
But the yearning of our hearts has a different dynamic. We can be constantly overwhelmed by beauty and wonderment, and the gratefulness and joy that they inspire. This, too, is built into our very essence and being.
It’s not that we are made for endless unfulfillment, never to know or to possess all, but the very opposite—never-ending fulfillment, never-ending finding, discovering, wonderment, gladness, and gratitude.
You know, the old Baltimore Catechism was right on target with its third question and answer. They really captured the essence of Augustine’s beautiful reflection:
Q. Why did God make you? A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.
However, the answer adds an important third purpose. The way we’re made, we can’t help but restlessly to seek to know more and more; we can’t help but to love and desire more and more . . .
But, it doesn’t work quite the same in the case of “to serve Him”. We do have some built-in desire for doing what is right, to do the will of God—but it’s weaker than “to know Him, to love Him”.
Beware the temptation! Remember what Jesus quoted, “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
4 October 2020