Human senses
In a room deprived of all light, sound, smell, taste, and even the ability to feel, my senses are worthless.
No matter how hard I strain to hear, without the vibrations of sound, my sense of hearing does not serve me. No sound warns, delights, or inspires me.
No matter how wide I open my eyes, I am still blind. No light, reflecting up the object it touches, shows me what is present, causes me to avoid danger, or prompts me to rejoice in beauty.
No matter how much I seek to draw in air through my nostrils, my sense of smell is unused, dormant, without the tiny unseen molecules touching, flooding the specialized olfactory nerves designed to receive the delightful smell of the rose, the alerting smell of fire, or the comforting smell of a loved one.
No matter how hard I try, nor how often, without the flavors of food upon my taste buds, I cannot taste or even will myself to eat. Without those molecules that cause the acknowledgement of flavor I cannot enjoy the deliciousness of cake, the repugnancy of rotten food, or the flavor enhancing power of salt.
No matter how far I reach for another object, if there is nothing to touch, my sense of touch is without benefit. My sense of touch, without another object acting upon the receptors in my skin, cannot feel the sharpness of the blade, the coarseness of the rock, or the smoothness of another’s skin.
Yet, deprived of only one sense, my other senses rise to meet the challenge and form a clearer picture. Although I may not be able to see my wife before me, my hearing recognizes her voice at a lower decibel or further distance. I can more easily smell her sweetness when she enters the room. My sense of touch is heightened and I recognize her touch without seeing her. The kiss, if it were from a stranger, would be easily recognized.
God Sense
In a similar way, we have a sense that is designed to recognize God. It is a sense that can only be influenced by the action and “touch” of the Holy Spirit. Just like the other senses it responds only to the movement of God. Light does not affect our sense of hearing. Taste does not affect our sight. Touch cannot affect our smell. In other words, our senses are designed to be influenced in one way by a only a particular type of influence. So it is with our “sense” of the Divine.
Yet, the Divine permeates everything and so can often be found in cooperation with the other senses. Our sense of sight may help us sene God in another being created in His image and likeness. Our hearing can help us sense God’s word to us through vibrations upon the air. Our sense of smell can help us sense the gratuitous gifts of God in delightful aromas that lead us to contemplate such a wonderful giver.
However, without the active use of the “Divine Sense” we can easily mistake things for the divine and begin to worship those in His place. This is most common in the “sins of the flesh” – lust, gluttony, sloth.
So, how then do we avoid this mistake, this pitfall that can lead us further from God-the Giver of the gifts and the senses? We must deprive our other senses in order to awaken more fully the Divine Sense. Like the blind man whose sense of hearing has developed so as to hear that which for others is in audible; like the blind and deaf men whose sense of touch has so developed he can read by touching bumps embedded upon paper!
This is the blessing of fasting not only from food and drink, but from anything that dulls our Divine Sense. To ignore the Divine Sense is to allow for it’s atrophy. Yet, when we deprive our senses of the influences available to them, we can heighten and refine the Divine Sense.
If I place myself in times of silence, refraining from excessive talk, music, etc., I can heighten the Divine Sense and hear God’s word more clearly through Scripture and others. If I deprive my body of the gift of sight (avoiding impure glances, excessive media consumption, etc.) I will begin to develop a keener vision of the Divine and my Divine Sense of sight will grow and improve.
Similar to the natural senses we truly have a Divine Sense built into our very being even if we don’t currently recognize it. It may lie dormant from years of disuse. Yet, we can bring the Divine Sense back to being an active influence in our lives if we deprive ourselves of our other senses if only temporarily. This is the beauty of fasting from using our natural senses. Fasting from our natural senses in one way or another at appropriate times can bring our Divine Sense out of it’s dormant state.
Cultivating the Divine Sense can gives us a fuller, richer presentation of the world around us. As the “poet” Zach Bryan said,
And I see God in everything
The trees and pain and nights in the spring
With a heightened Divine Sense, you can too.
James M. Hahn, Author 