Sight
Taste
Hearing
Touch
Smell
Most of us are born equipped with five traditional senses. They are called "traditional" because we actually have a plethora of other senses. Some of these are the result of the combination of two or more of the traditional senses. Other senses are very powerful, but can't be explained with the five senses. How do you describe that sense you have that someone is behind you?. You have not seen anyone, heard anyone, touched anyone, tasted anyone or smelled anyone, but you know someone is there. This sense of perception is hidden in the most ancient part of our brain and is vital to our protection and well-being. How do you explain that sense that a friend is in trouble and needs your help? When you call you find out why. It's very possible that you have a sense that is unique to you. For years you just assumed it was common because you had no idea it was something only you could do. Why would you have thought otherwise? These are just a few examples of powerful abilities that cannot be categorized as traditional senses.
But just the five traditional senses alone are vastly important to our ability to function and to live. It is very common for each of us to be stronger in one or two of these senses and weaker in others. We don't realize this because our preferences are all we've ever known. Whether or not it's weak or strong, each of these traditional senses has its own receptors in our brains. The brain accepts the impulses from our seeing, tasting, hearing, touching and smelling. The brain then converts these impulses into the information that we use to experience the world around us. Our entire perception of our environment comes through these portals and is unscrambled by our brain. If we suddenly lost the connection from these senses, our hearts would be beating and we would be breathing, but the universe would cease to exist. "Dead to the world" would be our literal condition. For each one of us the universe is not just "out there"; it's "in here."
What if you had to give up two of the three senses. Which ones would you choose? Look over the list very carefully because today is the last day you will have use of all five of these senses. Starting tomorrow, for the rest of your life, you will only have the three senses that you choose. From then on,the information you use every day will be limited to only those three.
In my friend's case, she didn't make a choice; it was an unfortunate accident. The accident when she was a young child involved a blow to the head. The trauma robbed her of both her ability to taste and to smell. I've known her for over a year, but just learned recently about her malady. After we talked about it a few minutes she let me know that for her it really wasn't that big of a deal. She said, "It's just something I've learned to live with." I asked her if she minded me asking a few questions and she said,"No. That's fine." I asked her if she had food preferences. She said, "Yes I do. I prefer food based on texture. Since I can't distinguish one food from another with taste, there are certain foods that feel good in my mouth and other foods that I don't prefer. You like what you like for your reasons and I like what I like for mine."
Regarding smell she said that she knows she's missing a lot, but that she doesn't know what she's missing so it's not a problem. She said that her inability to smell things has made her the designated person for handling smelly jobs especially related to babies, sick children and sanitation. She smiled and said, "It has it's advantages".
I asked her if she had any memories at all of taste and smell. And she said, "No. I have none." "Then do people try to describe things to you?" "Yes, all the time. But since I have no point of reference I really can't understand any comparisons. But that's okay. As problems go, and everybody has them, I really am not upset by any of it." Besides, how do you explain how a strawberry tastes? How do you explain how a summer rain smells?
Think about it. In that accident my friend lost two fifths of her primary senses. That's the same ratio that Helen Keller lived with. Helen lost her ability to see and to hear from an illness when she was nineteen months old. In Helen's case, she was helped by a loving and talented young teacher. Although she never gained those two traditional senses, she gained everything else. History records the abundant life she lived and her contributions to mankind. She, too, learned to make the best of what she had and not dwell on what she had lost. In my friend's case, she had no teacher or advisor. She adjusted and adapted on her own. Although she had the support of family and friends, there was really nothing for anyone to do for her.
So which two senses did you choose to do without? Did you even make a choice? I didn't think so. It is really quite difficult to imagine losing the use of even one of our senses. And quite unthinkable that we could lose two..
I have another friend, blind from birth, who is an extremely talented musician, both a composer and performer. He too does not consider himself to be handicapped by his limitations. I asked him if there was surgery for him to see would he do it. He said, "I'm really not sure. For my entire life I have imagined what things look like. If I could see, I'm afraid that I would be disappointed. There are more ways to see than with your eyes".
I sense that I have said enough about all this and that I need to wrap it up. Growing up Southern Baptist we concluded every service with an invitation. My invitation to you is, regardless of everything else going on, that you take a few minutes today to celebrate your five traditional senses. Today, all day, notice what you see. Notice what you touch. Notice what you hear. Notice what you taste. Notice what you smell And if you've got at least three of the five, you are well on your way to having a good day. If you've got all five, the universe is yours to command. "Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. Come home. Come home. See on the portals He's waiting and watching. Ye who are weary come home."
"See on the portals." I've never thought about that.
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