Living foods and God

I am teaching a Sunday school class on The Song of Solomon (a.k.a. Song of Songs, a.k.a. the centerfold of the Bible). I was really nervous about teaching it at first, but it has really been a lot of fun! I have enjoyed learning about it and teaching it. One thing it has made me realize is that Christians don't utilize our senses near enough. (I realize that this is a HUGE generalization, but one that I am willing to make). Christians rarely take the time to feel God and/or Jesus with anything other than our "brains." What would happen if we really paid attention to what is going on around us. What would happen if we listened for God? I don't mean listen as in when the preacher says on Sunday morning before reading the Scripture, "Listen for the Word of God..." I mean really listened and heard God speak in the way the birds chirped at daybreak on Saturday morning, or in my five year-old's voice exclaiming the wonder of how the sun can shoot beams through the clouds. What if we heard God speak in the nursing home as the 92 year-old woman ponders if tomorrow will be her last day, or in the 82 year-old person's room next door explaining how she can't wait until his grand-daughter visits tomorrow.

What if we tasted God's work every time we bit into a ripe and delicious honey crisp apple. What if we smelled God in the labor of our laundry? What would happen if, when I rubbed the tear off the cheek of a tweener or a grandmother I imagined I could feel God's own tears. Could we handle it? Would it be a sensory overload? Sensory perception may, in fact, be THE best way we can sense God's presence in our lives.

You have read many times where I have written that I noticed my food more now that I eat a high raw diet. I appreciate the smell, the texture, and the taste more. I appreciate the labor it took to get from the soil to my table. I know it sound silly, but maybe I am sensing God's presence -- the real livingness of my food. The real smells, tastes, and textures that were meant for me to perceive. Perhaps eating living foods requires me to be alive in a way I had neglected before now.