I’ve lost much of my sense of smell - it is substantially muted.  People will often say, “Do you smell that?”  My answer is usually, “No,” or “Kind of.”  Sometimes they are physically recoiling in reaction to a smell of which I am blissfully ignorant.  I don’t know why.  Is it a natural part of my aging process?  Meg thinks it is because I eat spicy foods.  I wonder about those zinc lozenges I tried several years ago to treat a cold – loss of smell is a known potential side effect.  I really don’t know why and I certainly can’t help it.

In some respects this is an advantage.  I regularly visit hospitals, nursing homes and other places where smells may not be very pleasant.  They rarely bother me much at all.  I am quite able to change a dirty diaper.  Those of you who get overcome and even driven out of a room by someone else’s strong perfume may envy my diminished olfactory sense.

In other ways it is a disadvantage.  I don’t enjoy a rose as much as many of you.  I may miss the nuances of aromas and flavors of some foods.  It can even be dangerous.  How do you check to see if the leftovers have spoiled?   Bacteria will have no mercy because I didn’t smell they were there.   I fear that some day I may be that old guy that doesn’t know he smells bad.  Maybe that someday is now and all of you are too kind to let me know.

We might apply this dynamic to any of our senses.  Some of us see better than others, some are colorblind.  Our hearing may be different as to volume or tone.  (I SAID OUR HEARING MAY BE DIFFERENT.)  Some of us have a more acute sense of touch or taste.  We are all unique in this regard, and some of us fall outside normal ranges in some areas.

Yet the objects of our senses are not dependent on our ability to sense them.  A rose emits its fragrance whether or not I can smell it.  The sun shines whether or not I see its light.  It may burn me though I do not see it at all (I fell asleep on the beach once.  Just once.)  Reality is what it is whether or not we sense it.  The same principles apply to our relationship with The Lord. 

“The glory which that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one as we are one,”  John 17:22

The Lord loves us unconditionally, whether or not we are able to perceive that love at any given point in time.  His Word and commands roll through eternity whether we hear them or not.  These are the most real things.  Our inability to sense his love may cause sorrow, regret or dismay.  Our inability or failure to hear and follow his guidance and commands may be dangerous, whether or not we sense them at all.  Love is love.  Truth is truth.  In Christ they are One.  The difficulty lies in our ability and/or desire to approach him. 

“I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23 

He wants the whole world to know his love, whether or not individuals can sense it themselves.  He wants us to help. 

This is – in part – why he commands us to live together as his body the Church.  None of us grasp his love and truth fully or perfectly.  Each must rest in our faith.  Yet it is real and true for all of us, whether we sense it or not.  Not everyone can sense the Lord’s love and guidance equally.  Some cannot sense it for a time due to illness or depression.  Others cannot sense it at all.  The world, as Christ so clearly puts it, is blind to him.  They must trust others’ witness and testimony as one with weak eyes may trust the arm of a friend.  Together we can lend a guiding hand to another who needs it, or find a hand when we need it, whether for a brief time or long-term.  We can lead, or be lead, to life and away from danger.  We must never let anything or anyone distract or discourage us from this ministry.  The Lord is counting on us.

AMEN

Fr. Tim+