Sensing God's Presence

Indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:3

REFLECTION:
Our five senses are how we interact with the world. In the first moments after birth, eyes open, ears begin to take in the familiar sounds of adult conversation, the touch of doctors, nurses and other adults are first felt, smells guide our search for our mother's milk, and taste provides assurance that we have found the sustenance we need.

It is obvious to us that these are all important for a completely healthy child to thrive. If one or more of the senses is absent, we make accommodations for that child in order to help them live fully. Once we are adults, however, I think we often lose perspective on how important all of these are to integrate with our world and those in it.

God gave us these bodies, and these senses...but too often in Christian history, we have acted as though the "sensual" part of our lives was somehow more connected to sin than the intellectual pursuit of faith.

However, this rejection of the physical wasn't present in early Christian worship. Ancient forms of worship involved all five senses. Today, in the Protestant church, we have retained part of this. Our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, however, have retained a bit more. Ideally, worship is to engage all of who we are. Eyes see beautiful decorations that point our eyes to Christ. Ears hear music that stirs our soul to praise. We touch our fellow Christians by sharing the peace, and we feel the bread placed into our hands. We smell the incense and it calms our minds and spirits (aroma therapy is nothing new!) And of course, we taste the bread and wine, knowing that God's Love is not just an idea, but a lived reality that becomes a part of us.

This is no mistake that worship is supposed to be a whole-body experience. The message is clear; faith is not just an intellectual exercise. God's love is meant for every part of us, not just our minds.

Today, may all five of your senses remind you that God is present, blessing and preserving you. May the sight of a sunrise, or of a loved one, fill you with love. May the smell of crisp air fill you with love. May the sounds around you remind you that you are never alone and fill you with love. May the touch of a friend, lover, or animal companion remind you that that you are never alone and fill you with love. And may the food that sustains you today remind you that God will sustain you. May you taste and see that the Lord is good.

PRAYER:
We are so grateful for your kindness to us. We are so grateful that we have been granted another day of life. We ask that you open our eyes to all the graces and blessings that you offer this day. Amen.*

*Prayer taken from the Moravian Daily Texts