One of my worries, in fact my greatest fear, as I grow older is that of my senses failing me. I have always been hard of hearing. But these days, I still hear words but it takes me awhile to fully grasp their meaning. My sight is still good but they strain too easily with all my readings and internet surfing. I always had a sharp sense of smell but I am starting to lose it, specially when it comes to my own body odors.
Yet, as I grow older I also have developed a deeper and fuller sense of what life is, what it is all about. I still have a lot to learn, to explore and to discover. But often I close my eyes and I see the beauty and the blessings that have come into my life. I see that people who have enriched me materially, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. I see the events in my life that have brought me where I am today and I begin to understand why and how they are important in my life. I realize they had to happen to bring me where I am now. I shut out my ears and I hear all the voices of friends and family affirming me through the years. I hear their laughter during the happy times we shared together. I hear their words of consolation during my darkest moments. Then, I can just be still and would remember the sweet smell of Ima with her lotions and naphthalene balls. I remember the smells of my childhood and that distinctive scent of sun-drenched sweat. I catch a whiff of a familiar smell and it transports me back to places, people and events in my life.
In my quiet and silent moments, I shut down my sense and I am alone with God. I see all the good He has wrought in my life. I hear the voices with which He has guided me along the way. And I smell the aroma of all the good things He has blessed me with. My physical sense may be fading away as I age. But I am developing new senses preparing me for the next level in my life. All of these things happen during my prayer moments.
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Mark 8:22-26