Coming To Our Senses
2021년 9월 5일Coming To Our Senses
<Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time>
Most people are blessed with five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. Most of the time we take these for granted and don’t really appreciate what miracles they are until we lose them —even if only temporarily. During the lockdown stage of the pandemic, when we had to “shelter-in-place”, many were deprived of hugs and handshakes. These minor yet daily reminders kept us connected to the human race. Deprived of a gentle, loving touch, many elderly people in nursing homes and hospitals felt particularly isolated. One of the symptoms of Covid-19 is a loss of smell and taste. Eventually, these return. As we age, many of us suffer hearing loss, but this can be mitigated by a hearing aid. I think most would agree, sight is the most precious gift. Losing the ability to see is surely one of life’s greatest tragedies: never again seeing a loved one’s face, or a sunset or a butterfly.
There are other things we do that we take for granted: speaking, singing, walking and running. In biblical times, loss of any of these abilities was seen as a punishment of God for sin. We know now that saints and sinners alike get sick and lose physical function. Restoration of any of these is truly seen as nothing less than a miracle. God and his anointed Messiah will restore sight to the blind, open the ears of the deaf and the lips of the mute, strengthen the limbs of the lame so they can leap for joy. But let’s not wait till we lose these abilities and then ask God to heal us. Rather, let us always be grateful for the five senses and other abilities God has given us. And let us use our sight, our hearing, our speak to thank and praise God and live each day for God’s glory.