I look at every unexpected change

I look at every unexpected change with wonder and curiosity, trusting that Divine Mind is revealing a miracle right here.

The Gift of Curiosity

We often treat curiosity as an intellectual pursuit, but when we look closer at moments that change human history, we find that curiosity is a profound spiritual practice. It is the art of staying present when things do not go according to plan, and of trusting that the universe is constantly speaking to us through the ordinary.

These ordinary moments of curiosity turned total accidents into unexpected miracles:

• In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that a mold had accidentally contaminated one of his bacterial cultures. Rather than discarding the spoiled dish, he investigated why the bacteria around the mold had died, leading to the discovery of penicillin.

• In the 1940s, Percy Spencer was testing a radar magnetron when he noticed that a peanut cluster (often reported as a chocolate bar) in his pocket had melted.

  Curious, he investigated and found that the microwave energy from the magnetron could heat food. He experimented further with other foods, including popcorn and an egg. This led to the invention of the microwave.

  
  

• In 1962, Osamu Shimomura was studying how glowing jellyfish produced light when he unexpectedly isolated a Green Fluorescent Protein. Although GFP was not what he set out to discover, this chance finding eventually allowed scientists a way to see inside living cells. It has allowed scientists to observe processes such as cancer cell movement and spread, and viral infections.

  
  

None of these breakthroughs came from rigid, forced planning. They came because someone was willing to be interrupted.

In our spiritual lives, we often do the exact opposite. We construct rigid expectations of how our days should go, how our meditations should feel, or where we expect to find the divine. When a plan falls apart, an unexpected challenge ruins our schedule, or we find ourselves in a dark, uncertain place, our instinct is to fix it, bypass it, or throw it away.

What if life’s disruptions were invitations to pause, wonder, and look deeper? Curiosity is a practice of spiritual humility, the gentle acknowledgement that we are always learning, coupled with a willingness to embrace the wisdom and possibilities that each moment offers. When we adopt a curious mindset, a ruined plan becomes a redirection. A messy, melted situation becomes an invitation to discover an invisible power at work.

When life throws us a curveball or presents an unexpected mess, it offers us an opportunity to pause, breathe, look closer, and ask: What is this moment revealing to us?