What do the words small and curious mean to you? These two words can mean different things. Recently I have read several different things where those words popped up. Small and curious. These two words have stuck with me.
At times we tend to focus on trying to make everything big, planned and figured out. Unfortunately during this we miss a lot. Life’s journey is full of beautiful and intricate details. When we stay large and uninterested we easily miss it. When I try to go straight to the end result, I tend to miss the beauty along the way.
Being small and curious still leads me but it allows me to live and love along the way. Let’s start with the word small. I’m not referring to size, stature, belittled or cowering. Instead, small here is referring to my place. When I’m small, I’m looking up. I’m seeing life around me. I’m seeing others. I’m seeing God. Imagine looking under a quilt or something cross stitched. The finished result on top is a piece of art but underneath shows all the steps and detail that went into it. Being small is living and seeing experiences from underneath.
What about curious? I’m not referring to being nosey. Instead, curious means I’m being open. I am no longer just seeing an end result or a plan. I actually see others and their experiences. I can see how things work together. My eyes are open. My heart is open. I enter into daily life with a sense of curiosity instead of through a rigid agenda or preconceived notion about the person or thing I’m encountering.
Being small and curious brings freedom. It’ s a freedom for me and a freedom for those around me. With a small and curious posture I listen to others and ask questions out of love. I let others talk. I don’t take things personal. This freedom also allows me to be okay with not having the answers. I don’t fix.
I stay small and listen. I stay curious and love. Grace abounds.
Job 12:7-12 The Message (MSG)
“But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;
let the birds tell you what’s going on.
Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.
Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree
that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—
Every living soul, yes,
every breathing creature?
Isn’t this all just common sense,
as common as the sense of taste?
Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom,
that you have to grow old before you understand life?”
-Melissa
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