Thank God For All Our Senses

Mk. 7:31-37

How often do we thank God for our five senses? God has attached much enjoyment to all of them. Let us say a little about each one.

First, we have the sense of sight. With it we have the ability to read. How many hours of enjoyment do we get from reading good books, viewing our favourite television programmes, gazing at a beautiful sunrise or sunset, the beauty of a young child’s happy smile, to mention a few. How awful it must be to have no sight and miss all this pleasure.

Next, we have the sense of hearing. Here we have the pleasure of sharing in good conversations and listening to good music. If we did not have this sense, we would have to learn sign language or go through the onerous task of writing down all that we want to express.

Then there is the sense of taste. We get great pleasure from a tasty and nourishing meal. I thank God many times a day for a good tasty meal. In my life a lot would be missing if I lost my sense of taste.

Then we have the sense of touch. I am certainly grateful to God for all I can do with my hands. I would be lost if I could not tap my fingers on the keyboard of a computer or not hold a crochet needle or be unable to pluck guitar strings.

Lastly, we have the sense of smell. This is a very pleasant sense, but it can also have unpleasant effects. How wonderful it is to enjoy the fragrance of a sweet-smelling flower. We all abhor nasty smells and try any amount of ways of getting rid of them.

Now of all our senses which one do we appreciate most? For me it would have to be the sense of sight. The reason is I like clean food and I would not like to be at the mercy of a dirty cook. I would also miss being able to read, watch television, use a computer and crocheting. I would also miss the joy derived from watching a beautiful sunrise or sunset and observing the change of the seasons.

I live with a 96-year-old friar who has very poor hearing. He tells me for him the sense of hearing is the most precious one. At gatherings conversations are just noise and he hates occasions when everyone is talking and he is unable to participate.

We all have great sympathy for the man in the Gospel who was deaf and dumb. He lived in a very lonely world. We can be like this deaf and dumb man when we do not listen to what God has to say to us and fail to speak the truth. We all need the healing hand of Jesus to make us hear God’s words and speak as He expects us. Jesus removes our deafness and dumbness so that we can use these senses to the best of our ability.

We too can be like this man if we fail to give a listening ear to the lonely, the disturbed and unloved. How many times have we failed to express cheery words of encouragement to someone who is trying or a word of thanks for a good performance? Have we been guilty of cautious silence when we should have spoken the truth? Have jealousy, pride, envy and hatred sometimes marred our speech and so failed to heal relationships?

Is Jesus saying to us, “You may think what a great tragedy it is to be born deaf or dumb, but I tell you it is an even greater tragedy to have ears and fail to hear, to have tongues and fail to speak.” Those of us who do not use our ears to hear the word of God and fail to speak up for good are the people to be pitied. We need to be brought to Jesus for His healing touch. He wants to open our ears to hear His words and those of others who want to speak to us, and our mouths to communicate His Good News, and to thank Him and others for the good they do us.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for all our senses with the same fervour as the deaf and dumb man must have thanked Your Son Jesus for giving him the senses of speech and hearing.