How awesome that the tiniest newborn comes programmed with the five senses! How much we take for granted with so little thought for the ability to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste! It seems that we don’t think much about it until we see someone who has had to function with one or more of the senses missing. I have read stories of people who were blind who were just being so thankful they could hear; on the other hand, people who are deaf who are so thankful they can see. Because of age my senses are not as acute as they used to be, but nothing too troublesome yet.
But you didn’t ask for a discourse on the value of senses; you ask about which I would give up if I were forced to choose. So I play along. If a doctor were going into my brain, and he must sacrifice some of my senses, what would be my priorities? Please sacrifice the senses in this order: taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight. I would make the decision based on what I consider the most important to my safety. In over eighty years, I don’t think I have ever tasted anything that would have harmed me if I had eaten it. One night not long ago, I smelled gas in my house. I got up about two o’clock to discover I had accidentally turned a stove gas knob to the on position, I suppose when I was washing the stove top. I believe it was a nudge from the Lord that I awoke rather than slept blissfully into unconsciousness. Touch seems insignificant, but it is so important to not injuring oneself in ways that are only avoided because of touch. I have heard that lepers lose their flesh because of not have nerve endings to warn them of dangerous touch. (I’m not sure about that.) But I am sure I don’t want to hold on to my hair curler from the wrong end. Hearing and sight? I guess they would be about equal for safety. I just think I would rather see my grandbabies grow rather than hear them. Can’t argue the point. Thanks for the reminder to be thankful for a Creator God who covered the basics.
(Prompt by Michele W Daily Post: If you were forced to give up one sense, but gain super-sensitivity in another, which senses would you choose?)
