I want to know.
Do you want to know? What do you want to know?
They say that ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ but I think every other creature feels alive with that curious spirit.
Last week we had our grandkids with us and watched more than a few episodes of Curious George. What a great cartoon character, inspiring this amazing quality of curiosity.
Don’t you love it when a child wonders incessantly and asks, “Why?” “How?” “What?” about almost everything. One answer seems to beg another question, then more and more.
If I were to ask you today (and I am because I am, well, quite curious) what you most want to know about, what would it be? Is it something scientific? Relational? Is it a mystery as elusive as Sasquatch? What? What? WHAT?!?!?
Whatever your curiosity is, I do believe many people are curious as to what is beyond this life we
live in the earth realm. What is beyond the limitless boundary of the universe? Where is heaven? What is hell? Is there either? What happens when I die? Better yet, what happens when you die?
I have been with several people as they gasped their last breath. I am amazed at the peace of some, the activity of others (especially my Dad), and the fight or terror of one or two. As I heard earlier today, ‘We better be prepared; because we do not know the when or how.’
I realize that the bodies that possess our collective souls, these dirtbags, will go still, begin to deteriorate, be burned or boxed, and cease to be part of us. That is curious in itself, an animated body, losing its life.
At the same time our bodies cease to function, our soul goes free. That eternal part of us escapes the bonds of time and place. Paul, the great convert, writer, and teacher of the New Testament, writes of an out-of-body experience: "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” What did Paul discover about this experience to write this?
An aged friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago that he is confident that he died, and because of his faith, entered into a realm of perfect peace, acceptance, and joy. He wanted to make sure I shared his story with others.
I am curious and have often imagined the moment, but my curiosity just produces an idea.
Getting to the point, I want to partner with you to explore this eternal part of us, the real us, the us that lasts beyond us being here, the SOUL us. I want to grow my soul and share everything I discover with you so that we can build confidence in the trajectory of our souls beyond what we see and experience. We might not can know it all, but we can certainly know all we can.
Why? It is important. Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” I do not have every answer. I think Jesus was saying nothing is more important than your soul. He must be onto something. As Jesus' strong friend wrote, "I wish, above all things, that you would successfully move forward in life, and experience wholeness and health, even AS YOUR SOUL moves and flourishes.
If Jesus thinks the soul is valuable, and John says life follows our soul, I choose to believe it too. I like that and want to get inside his mind. We can do that; you and I can. Paul said that one of the benefits of knowing Jesus is possessing his mind, have the mind of Christ. Now THAT is curious. Want to know more? Be a George instead of a cat.
Comments