Sinful Curiosity

Most of us have heard the old adage "curiosity killed the cat". I would like to expand on that and say: "curiosity destroyed the soul". Yes, there are times when a curious cat does not die because of his curiosity, but the point is clear: be careful, what you are curious about might hurt you.

In the same way, of course there are times when a person can be curious about something and not have his soul destroyed. Yet, the same point should be taken here: be careful, what you are curious about might hurt you. And we can take this one step further: the very curiosity itself may be unhealthy for your spiritual well being. We so often presume that since curiosity can lead to knowledge and growth, that all curiosity is good.

A young child who is curious about some of the things of this world might think that "sneaking a peek" is OK. We all know that this is often wrong. There is such a thing as an unhealthy curiosity, as well as curiosity about things that are not our business. Take for example what goes on behind closed doors in Rome. Some traditionals are constantly dwelling on theories of conspiracy, and trying to root out the inner workings of the Pope and Cardinals. Once again, not our business, and we need to learn to let things go and not be curious about it.

The way we are able to get news quickly has some advantages. It also has numerous disadvantages: it often makes us assume that we should be able to have every piece of information that we want, and have it instantaneously. How many times have you heard a reporter in a movie or book say "the people have a right to know"? Do we? Should we? Have we enshrined the news media as immune to gossip since we like what they are telling us (the question should be considered)?

Let us seek to learn what St Paul meant when he told us that he learned to "be content" in whatever situation God put him. Much of the information we "just have to know" will do us no good. There is nothing going on in the largest portion of our modern curiosities other than to satisfy our lust to know stuff (which is directly related to the sin of gossip--do not miss this!), and this is not healthy.