A Feast for the Senses

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! – Psalm 34:8

Our creative Creator constantly amazes me. Think of the variety He’s blessed us with and the abilities He’s given us to appreciate it.

Sight

From the grandeur of the night sky to mountain vistas to desert landscapes or lush gardens, God created a beautiful world. He could have created a gray, dull, monochromatic world. But He didn’t. He gave us a breathtaking color spectrum. He could have made the entire world as flat as Oklahoma, but He didn’t. There are five major biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra, broken down into specific categories–from  alpine biome to the cloud forest to the abyssal zone of the deep sea. I read once that there are 103 biomes, and Peru has 83 of them. That’s a lot of variety.

And God didn’t just create a beautiful variety of things to see, He gave us sight to appreciate it. Enjoy this short video of the design of the eye and this article which challenges the idea of the evolution of the eye.

Hearing

From the softest whisper to the crash of a cymbal, God has given us a variety of sounds. Consider two bird calls: the plaintive cry of a red-tailed hawk and the majestic (not) call of the bald eagle.

And he gave us a remarkable ear to enjoy them. We can instantly discern the difference between a soprano’s lilting aria and the dissonant claxon of a car horn. In this video, Dr. Menton of Answers in Genesis explains the wonders of the ear. Hearing aids and cochlear implants have made great strides in allowing the deaf to hear, but nothing rivals God’s original design.

Touch

Consider design in the variety of textures and temperatures. A baby’s cheek is soft, inviting a caress. A porcupine quill gives a sharp prick, a good natural defense. Who doesn’t love snuggling under flannel sheets on a cold day or jumping into a pool on a hot one?

And what about our ability to feel? We most commonly reach out with our hands to touch. The human hand has more than 3,000 nerve endings in each fingertip. And the hand brain connection? This article and this one describe the incredible partnership between mind and fingers. We can both open a stubborn pasta sauce jar and pick up a feather without crushing it. Musicians and typists use muscle memory to fly through their tasks. When I tie my shoes or shake someone’s hand, I’m reminded of the gift of dexterity.

Smell

A rose garden. A sweaty locker room. An ocean breeze. A dirty diaper. What do they have in common? The ability to spark an olfactory memory. Read through the following list slowly and think about the memories they dredge up:

Curry

Wood fire

Vanilla

Cumin

Barbecue

Peppermint

Coffee

Some consider smell to be the most powerful inducer of memories. For me, the smell of Dove bar soap puts me right back in my grandmother’s house.

And smell goes hand in hand with

Taste

Taste buds allow us to sense sweet, savory, sour, bitter, and salty. Combine that with smell, and you have an endless variety of culinary delights. In the US, we are so blessed to have such variety in our cuisine. We might have Texas biscuits for breakfast, Italian for lunch, and Thai for dinner. Think about the variety of flavors you ate in just the last week.

Can you think of a time when God withheld variety in our taste?

When the Israelites ate manna. For 40 years. When they first tasted it, they found it delicious. But it wasn’t long before the got sick and tired of it. It met their nutritional requirements. They didn’t have to farm it. They always had enough. All they had to do was gather it. But they found it boring.

When did God give them manna?

After they complained.

Perhaps God withheld variety as a form of discipline.

Our Creator, Architect of the Universe, may I never take the wonders of Your creation for granted.