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Spiritual curiosity

A Christian Science perspective: As we sincerely desire to better know divine Truth, we find that it proves itself, freeing us from fear, illness, lack, and grief.

  • By Blythe Evans

In the quest for truth, curiosity is a valuable trait to have. A spirit of interest and inquiry, a willingness to delve into something new, can open the way to progress and fresh ideas – especially when it pertains to the nature of what is true.

I like to think of the example of Moses in the Bible. Early in the book of Exodus, Moses observed that a bush was burning, yet it remained intact (see Chapter 3). His curiosity led him closer to get a better look. At that point he perceived God revealing to him God’s own nature as the great “I AM.” As a result, Moses’ curiosity contributed to our better understanding of the truth about the Divine.

Christian Science explains that Truth is actually a synonym for God – the all-loving, all-powerful, ever-present good – and that this divine Truth always keeps its spiritual creation, which includes all of us, safe, harmonious, and healthy. Christ Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). When we genuinely desire to know divine Truth better, we find its promise of freedom to be true, liberating us from fear, illness, lack, and grief.

For instance, about two years ago I started to have a lot of pain in one of my shoulders. I could hardly lift my arm. Then it started in the other shoulder, too. It was difficult to get dressed or reach things on high shelves. I prayed to know that God, Truth, was not the originator of such a condition. Divine Truth does not cause stiffness or restriction; rather, God is the source of flexibility and freedom.

As I held to these ideas, complete mobility in my arms and shoulders was restored, including being able to button the buttons on the back of my clothing. The problem hasn’t returned.

When we are spiritually curious, genuinely desirous to know God better, our heavenly Father-Mother opens a path for our higher understanding of Truth. Curiosity about what we don’t know, openness to new ideas, and – above all – a desire to better understand Truth and adhere to it open our heart to better apprehend God and our real nature. In the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth, nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth” (p. 11).

And with this comes healing.

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

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