Sight, hearing, smell, taste, & touch.
If we are fortunate enough to be able-bodied in each of these areas, then general living can be very satisfying and fulfilling.
Millions (billions?) of years of sight impairment
Arguably, eyesight is the most amazing sense we have. From a tender age we see our parents, and later our spouse, children and grandchildren. We enjoy the natural beauty surrounding us including the sun, sky, clouds and colours in the garden. ‘How good does that look?’
Could sight have agonisingly slowly evolved over gazillions of years benefiting this caveman and not that one? Until it reached the perfect acuity most of us now enjoy, were there billions of vision-impaired cavers and animals alike living blighted lives stumbling around half starved because of the tormentingly slow hit-and-miss improvement in sight, hearing and smell?
Many must have been near/far sighted, and without remedy imagine looking at life out-of-focus every waking moment.
Billions of years of arguments?
The sense of hearing has enabled mankind to develop languages and have meaningful communication with each other including our tiny children, enjoying inspired lofty music and song. Families and societies can only effectively function because of our senses.
If the sense of hearing was not a divine gift but merely incrementally evolved, there must have been untold miscommunication and frustratingly long silences over (m)billions of years.
Perhaps the upside would have been few cave-arguments and little general disharmony within society because Mr and Mrs Caver simply couldn’t understand each other. Maybe she grunted disapprovingly because he overcooked the dinosaur steak, he misinterpreted her grunted complaint and after loudly grunting-on, eventually one simply caved in to the other.
Mmmm that smells good
How did the ability to smell evolve and why? We enjoy the delicate aroma of a rose or of a strong cup of freshly brewed thick coffee shared with an enticing appetising meal. ‘That smells sensational.’ We know when the garbage needs taking out or that there’s something dead nearby.
As with each of the senses we were given, this amazing sense of smell was ‘inbuilt’ as our Creator: knitted us together in secret in our mother’s womb. (Psalm chapter 139 verse 13).
He’s got no taste
We taste a delicious meal, appreciate a good red wine and shiver at the sourness of a lemon. What role did natural selection play in the evolution of the tongue? What happened to all the tongueless creatures while it was being grown and refined into a fully functioning organ with taste buds?
Long before that happened had there existed a pathetic sorrowful creature called a tasteless tiger even before it became a threat to ‘cave kids’ everywhere. Socialising at restaurants only became possible because the Almighty gave us this precious sense from day one.
Dragged by the hair but she didn’t feel it
Simply by touching something we can tell whether it’s hot or cold, rough or smooth, hard or soft. We can luxuriate in a warm shower on a cold winter’s day and wear those old jeans and pullover (they feel good) as we smell and taste the hot coffee and enjoy reading a book or newspaper on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
It couldn’t have been a touchy-feely cave society while any of these amazing senses were merely sporadically evolving here and there one cave person at a time. Mrs Caver wouldn’t have felt it as he belted her over the head with a lump of wood and dragged her by the hair into their cave.
These divinely gifted senses enormously enrich our lives and enable us to protect ourselves from harm in a multitude of situations.
Silent witness of the divine senses
Overarching all of our spiritual senses, God gave us a new heart and a new mind. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17), which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians chapter 3 verse 10). You are a letter from Christ…written…with the Spirit of the living God…on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 3) as we are: transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans chapter 12 verse 2).
When we realise the truth of God and can say ‘ahh, now I see’, we can truly say: the LORD gives sight to the blind. (Psalm chapter 146 verse 8). When we have heard the truth then the following no longer describes our previous state of spiritual deadness: the message we heard was of no value to them because they did not combine it with faith. (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 2).
Faith comes from hearing the message (Romans chapter 10 verse 17) so: we were included in Christ when we heard the word of truth…When you believed you were [then] marked in Him with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit Who guaranteed our inheritance. (Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13).
To God we have become: the aroma of Christ and to the believer the: fragrance of life (2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 15/16). Then through us God: spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Himself. (2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14).
We need to: taste and see that the LORD is good. (Psalm chapter 34 verse 8). We must: knock and the door [Jesus] will be opened to us. (Matthew chapter 7 verse 7). And if we earnestly seek God He will: listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 13).
This much is up to us.
Gavin Lawrie is a retired Barrister and Solicitor from Tweed Heads NSW Australia and author of the book: 'THE EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION: Uncovering The Faulty Science Of Dawkins' Attack On Creationism'. He is married to Jan with two adult children and they are grandparents.
Gavin Lawrie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/gavin-lawrie.html