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A reflection and prayer to start the day with George Craig, a Methodist local preacher in Cardiff.

Good morning. I wish I could remember who said that Shakespeare was OK but it had far too many quotations.

The same could be said about the first twenty one verses of the third chapter of John’s Gospel which is pretty crammed with key texts that generations of Sunday school children were set to memorise.

Intriguingly, these vital teachings by Jesus were given in a private conversation rather than in public, and the person with whom Jesus was talking was Nicodemus, a religious leader who came secretly to find out for himself just who this man was.

Nicodemus, who is celebrated in many churches on this day, only appears three times in the Bible – all in John’s Gospel and he’s presented as a sympathetic figure – who recognises something special about Jesus, tries to speak up for Jesus and eventually appears at the crucifixion and helps with the burial.

He’s the patron saint of curiosity. And that, it strikes me makes him someone we might value more.

Increasingly, public dialogue is governed by dogmatic – and often highly dubious – statements that are presented as facts. And many of us prefer to accept this stuff – whether because it’s easy to understand or re-enforces our prejudices or simply annoys people who we don’t like.

The driving force of human development has been the curiosity that drives discovery and invention. Nicodemus, fuelled by his curiosity asked some key questions that no-one else had and got answers that are still challenging us today.

Perhaps if more of us followed his example and tried not to form opinions until we actually had some solid information to work with, I’m pretty confident that the world would be a better place.

Father, may we be like Nicodemus, willing to ask tough questions – even if the answers may not be easy or comfortable, the truth can set us free. Amen.

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