Curiosity @ MindSay

My therapist thinks I'm too disconnected from society, namely people. The fact that I don't trust people, let alone my own family, makes me think she's not too far off. I guess over the years I've just grown accustomed to being the loner. The kid sitting in the back of the class not talking to anyone. The guy who prefers not to work with a partner. That guy who never speaks in class.

The irony of all of this? I'm incredibly amiable and sociable, but throughout my whole life no one has ever given me the chance to talk. Any time I did talk, I was treated like some brilliant outcast: a pariah. So I learned to keep open ears and a shut mouth. Every chance I could get I would lose myself in thought; deep, complex thought. I guess it's because I'm a philosopher by nature. I've always been incredibly inquisitive, always wanting to learn as much as I can.

Give me a good book and I'll be entertained for hours. Ask me to work in a group and I'll think of a million reasons to do all the work myself and just be done with it. Why? Because people cannot be trusted to do their share of the work. They cannot be trusted to be any more intelligent than a four year old. I don't automatically dismiss someone's intelligence right off the bat, but after a few sentences and observations of their personality, I can pretty much tell if I'm working with a dimwit. Maybe it's because they don't see the world as I see it, and maybe it's because I see the world for what it could be, and they see it for what isn't. 

Maybe it's because I seek something that most people couldn't care less to find. I seek thought. I seek intelligence. I seek answers.

I've been told many times, by many people that Curiosity killed the cat. But I soon learned that Satisfaction brought him back.

The Piano "Lesson"

        

by Elizabeth Elliot   

  
Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert.  After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE." 
 
When the houselights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage.  In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." 
 
Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obligatio.  Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. And the audience was mesmerized.
 
Whatever our situation in life and history ~ however outrageous, however desperate, whatever dry spell of the spirit, whatever dark night of the soul ~ God is whispering deep within our beings, "Don't quit. Keep playing. You are not alone, Together we will transform the broken patterns into a masterwork of my creative art. Together, we will mesmerize the world with our song of peace.
   

~~~~~~~~~

   © E. Elliot 1997 all rights reserved

(Although I was told that "some years ago Elizabeth Elliot

gave everyone permission to post her stories on their web sites.

Just post the correct version with the copyright notice.)

 

As true today, as when she penned it!

 

~ B

What is a religion?

 

Is it good to have a religion? Is it bad to have a religion? Does it matter one way or another?

 

What's the main characteristic of a religious person? What's the main characteristic of a nonreligious person? From their observable behavior alone, is it possible to know the difference?

 

What makes a book "sacred" or "holy"? Is there more than one holy book? Can one holy book be holier than another holy book?

 

Is a holy book true? Are some parts of a holy book truer than other parts? If so, who decides which parts are the truer parts?

 

What is a god?

 

What are the characteristics and attributes of a god? Does a god have a body? Is a god born? Does a god die? Does a god have gender? What does gender mean when applied to a god? Does a god have genitalia? Is a god celibate and chaste? Does a god have sex? Does a god eat and drink? Does a god poop and pee? Does a god get hungry? Thirsty? Sleepy? Horny? Angry? Annoyed? Frustrated? Envious? Jealous? Sad? Depressed? Lonely? Happy?

 

Does a god change? Does a god grow? Does a god learn? Does a god get smarter? Does a god get sick? Does a god get mentally ill? Can a god go crazy? Can a god do wrong? Can a god make a mistake? Can a god be evil?

 

Can a god cure cancer? Has this ever happened? Can a god regenerate an amputated limb? Has this ever happened?

 

In the book of  Numbers, chapter 15, verses 32-36, in the collection of books known as the Bible, the author writes this story about a god known as the Lord: "While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was discovered gathering wood on the sabbath day. Those who caught him at it brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly. But they kept him in custody, for there was no clear decision as to what should be done with him. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'This man shall be put to death; let the whole community stone him outside the camp.' So the whole community led him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded Moses." What is your opinion of this god? What is your opinion of the people who obey this god?

 

In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 21, verses 18-21, also in the collection of books known as the Bible, according to the author the same god known as the Lord gives the following instructions regarding a son who disobeys his parents and eats and drinks to excess: "If a man has a stubborn and unruly son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not obey them even though they chastise him, his father and mother shall have him apprehended and brought out to the elders at the gate of his home city, where they shall say to those city elders, 'This son of ours is a stubborn and unruly fellow who will not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death." What is your opinion of this god? What is your opinion of parents who obey this god? What is your opinion of their fellow citizens who obey this god?

 

Mr. Skank says he was taught that hell is a place of punishment where people are tortured forever in ways so excruciating and terrible that we cannot even imagine them. In the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46, the author records one of the speeches of Jesus, a man considered the son of this same god known above as the Lord, and in his speech Jesus says that anyone who fails to help even one hungry or poor or sick or imprisoned person is cursed and on the day of judgment will be consigned to punishment in "the eternal fire" of hell forever. What is your opinion of this son of a god?

 

What is critical thinking? What is logic? What is reason? What is academic discourse? What is academic inquiry? What is science? What is the scientific method? What is the purpose of academic inquiry and scientific method? Why are academic inquiry and scientific method in conflict with religion?

 

I feel restless. 

I want something to happen, but I just don't know what. 

I have this feeling, but I just can't describe the feeling.  Not even to myself, which is probably the reason why I am so restless....You know that saying, "what you don't know won't kill you?"  I don't believe it.  I think it just might, kill me.

 I think I might just die out of curiousity one day.  I wish I wasn't such a fanatically curious person, I wish I wasn't so prone to giving in to bouts of nostalgia.  Oh yeah....there's the other one.  Nostalgia.  That being said.

Why did nothing happen?  Why does nothing happen? Now. 

Why do days go by, and I'm left wondering why nothing ever happens?