The "Senses" of Knowing God

There are a lot of emotions that have been coursing their way through me these last two weeks.  With my close friends, I’ve been contemplating the experiences of life, death of loved ones, servanthood, and “knowing God”. Certain events occur in my life that trigger these times of thinking. I suppose this is one of those times.

I know, heavy topic(s) for this edition of the Second Strait. But, its been a while since a new edition, so.....its alright :)

On a couple recent gatherings I had the opportunity to listen to a couple men speak about several religious topics in front of a group of people.  To be blunt, I wasn’t impressed with any of them.  Their delivery and public speaking abilities were...lacking, in my opinion. Ah, perhaps I am just a harsh critic, and needing to be more gracious.  To be fair, communicating an important message doesn't completely rely on the speaker(s) use the right gestures, tones, or even the ability to stay on track. If I simply chalk these abilities up to “artistic expression”, and realize that everyone has a certain way that they communicate (influenced by their own experiences or education) maybe I will approach them with a little more generosity. So in fairness to these folks, the content of the message is what really counts (and...*sigh*...that too seemed lacking...but I digress, and must work on generosity). 

Ah, but even poorly communicated messages that lack good content offers something for me to learn.  A close friend of mine coined the phrase “You can learn something from everyone, even if it isn’t how to be”. So as I consider my time listening to these speakers, there was a common thread woven from these speakers that resonated with me: “...get to know God...”.

“Get to know God.” 

Contemplating on this, I can reflect upon my life and know that I have experienced various levels of Closeness to God; the Compassion of God; and the Christ sent from God (thank you Pope Francis). There was a time in my life that I would have said these were things I experienced from reading a Christian bible, or going to worship in a Christian setting - which would have been true. However, for some reason when I heard this speaker share this four word phrase, I started to wander in my thoughts... “how do I know God”? 

The answer was fairly simple for me to understand, but I’ll be unpacking the depth of this response for some time. I can know God in my soul, and also through the Five Senses of the human body: In the relationships I have with my wife, friends and relatives, I get to know them through conversation, activities and by learning about the things they do - or have done.  Getting to know the Spirit of God is somewhat similar I suppose.  

I understand that all of creation was made by God, and God called all of creation good (the torah and the bible both “sing” of this). My deduction is that if God made things, and then called them good, perhaps my experience of them (and with them) is capable of allowing me to know God better.....right? 

• The aroma of flowers; baked bread; incense during Mass; my beautiful wife’s perfume...they fill my nostrils - I smell the things God has created. 
• The sight of the mountains and seas beneath me as I fly in an airplane over them; a crucifix displayed in a place of holy worship; the sight of people serving one another...they fill my eyes - I see the things God has created.
• The sound of my beautiful wife’s voice; the whistling of wind through the trees; the laughter of my own kids as they horseplay...they fill my ears - I hear the things that God has created.
• The feel of wet dew in the morning through my sandals; the softness of my wife’s hand in my own; the texture of the Host blessed by the priest at church...they fill my hands - I touch the things that God has created.
• The tang of raspberries grown in my garden; the refreshing flavor of a cool beer on a hot day; the taste of my beautiful wife’s kiss on my lips; relishing the body of Christ in the Eucharist as it rests on my tongue...they ignite my taste buds - I taste the things that God has created.

As I consider these five senses, I wonder...perhaps I should call these “five gifts”. How great these gifts are, that I am able to “...get to know God...” through a physical means and then marry that experience up with a spiritual embrace. How beautiful it is that the Spirit of God would not abandon the physical world that was called “good” and use physical things to communicate with us. I can say that I’ve not always known this way of thinking and I am so grateful to have my religious thinking grow from spiritual only, to physical and spiritual. Having God work in both “realms” rather than just a spiritual realm is quite refreshing for me.

All this to say, I am on earth and on a journey.  I am aware of my journey more than ever before, and my senses (or five gifts) are ignited with sensation.  In all these things, I have the privilege of literally experiencing God with physical senses he has given me.

***Note: a brief search on the web brought up another blogger identifying a similar take on the senses.  Enjoy his thoughts (and the image I borrowed from him) here. 

In loving memory of Terri Schoenberg (June 21, 1953 - November 4, 2013).  

Thank you for your grace and generosity in serving my family. 

We miss you; please tell my dad I said hello.