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JMJ
"My Child, do not be curious. Do not trouble yourself with idle cares. What matters this or that to you? Follow Me. What is it to you if a man is such and such, if another does or says this or that? You will not have to answer for others, but you will have to give an account of yourself. Why, then, do you meddle in their affairs?"
(Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis)God has placed a natural desire for knowledge and truth in our hearts so as to propel man to seek Christ, the Truth and man's ultimate end. Unfortunately, this legitimate and healthy need to seek true knowledge can sometimes take unnecessary detours in the attractive but empty pursuit of useless and sometimes harmful information which emanates from an unquenchable curiosity.
The tantalizing effects of the unknown are used as a lure of the devil to satisfy one's spiritual and intellectual appetite with the tasty morsels of gossip and saccharine trivialities, rather than a hearty diet of truth, goodness, and beauty. Technology readily feeds into an unbridled curiosity, seductively inviting one to various vacuous pleasures: idleness, gossip, voyeurism, jealousy, lust, etc. The rotten fruit of this shiftless activity is pride as one's ego relishes the discovery of that which was hidden from him. In contrast, the gaining of true knowledge produces the celestial fruit of humility, which is cultivated in the man who increasingly recognizes his nothingness compared to the Almighty Father he is coming to know better.
Learning to mortify one's curiosity is a praiseworthy and necessary task to tackle. One must learn to be content with questions unasked and unanswered, and grow accustomed to the silence of the ears, eyes, and tongue which accompany a peaceful heart that is content with the unknown.
