Curiosity: a Friend to Hope

Hope believes God's words of life. Hope trusts the God of abundance who gives life and peace and quenches thirst (John 10:10, 4:14, 14:27). Anxiety likes Hope, but she sometimes thinks Hope is naive. Anxiety really wants Hope to be right. But Anxiety does not like surprises. She looks for every possible way that Hope might be wrong, just to be absolutely certain. She tries to be a good friend, but she often overshadows Hope.

I've found a better friend to Hope than Anxiety: Curiosity. Curiosity is not afraid of surprises. She likes surprises. Curiosity knows there is something around the corner and eagerly anticipates discovering it. Curiosity does not need to be right. She does not need to know it all. She just needs to keep moving. Curiosity likes walking hand-in-hand with Hope.

Curiosity can be a friend to other emotions too. I wandered around Home Depot yesterday wondering what to do about Christmas. I let curiosity lead me. There was no wrong answer. I contemplated crawling into a cave until all the holidays are over. I thought about putting little signs on all my neighbors' doors saying "Please stop offending me with your happiness." Then I bought a tree. It was a little tree. I could do a little Christmas, not a lot of Christmas this year. I pulled out the ornaments. I couldn't put the Baby's first Christmas ornament on. Too painful. But I found Julia's bells that she loved ringing. I put those on top of the tree. Every time I put on a new ornament, the little tree shook and the bells rang. It was like Julia was there with me putting the ornaments on. A sweet surprise.

I don't know what to do with Christmas. But I'll stay curious. And somehow, as I do, every little emotion has a bit more space to breathe.