Jesus and Our Senses

Sometimes, when I am down at the river, I quiet myself and think, "What do I hear?"
I listen and I hear birds and the rippling of water over rocks in the Appomattox.
I hear Angel panting.
I hear God.

Then I ask, "What do I see?"
And I quiet myself and look around.
Not long ago, I saw a moving tree across the waters.
It was full of monarch butterflys and they were flying in from every direction.
The tree looked as if it was one of the living trees like C.S.Lewis wrote about in
his Narnia stories.
Sometimes, I see bluebells in their ethereal blue droopiness,
taking over the woods with their beauty.

I breathe in deep and think, "What do I smell?"
I smell spice bushes and damp sand.
I smell dirt and moss and last night's fire.
I smell wild garlic and purple violets.

"What do I feel?"
I feel the warmth of the sun
and the breeze of the wind.
I feel the grittiness of sand
and the tickle of an insect crawling on my toes.

"What do I taste?"
I taste the sweet drop of goodness
at the end of a honeysuckle blossom.
I taste grains of wheat after I've blown
the chaff away.

One of the ways to love God with all of our hearts is to love Him with all of our senses.

Jesus said, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you. The more you hear, the more will be given for you to hear."

The Psalmists talks of those who look unto God.
Their faces are radiant and they are not ashamed.

There are women who loved Jesus so much, that they poured out costly perfumed oil on His feet, and wiped them with their hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of their extravagant love for Him.

After Jesus' resurrection, He appeared to His grieving disciples, and invited them, "Handle me. Touch me. See for yourselves that I am who I say I am.

Jesus broke bread for His disciples and poured out wine, "This is my body broken for you. This is my blood poured out for you. Take and eat all that I've given to you."

So Jesus invites us to hear His voice
and look at His face.
He invites us to pour out the fragrance of our life on Him,
and handle Him and touch Him and see for ourselves
that He is who He says He is.
He invites us to taste His broken body at the communion table.

But He also uses His senses to love us with all of His heart.

"My ear is always open unto your cry."

"You are the apple of My eye."

Through us He diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of Himself.

"Underneath all things are my everlasting arms.
I have you and hold you from this day forth..."

"Taste and see that I am good."

I want to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I want to love Him with all of my senses.
I want to see Him and hear Him and smell Him and touch Him and taste Him.

I want to love Him the way He loves me.