Hermenuetics

Comments

Oh sweet! I am going to have to put this book on my to buy list. My sense of smell has always, always been horrid. I can smell (and recognize) the citrus smell (don't ask me to identify if its lemon or orange) and that's about it. It takes me a lot longer to smell putrid smells (after several weeks I'm still trying to figure out where my cat is going pee since she's not using the litter box) and when I do I'm more likely to get a very upset stomach than to actually smell that something is wrong.

I remember one time when I lived with roommates I had forgotten about some food on the counter and hadn't been in the kitchen for several days so hadn't seen it to clean it up. I walked in, saw it, and began cleaning it up. One of my roommates was like "glad you are finally cleaning that up, it was beginning to smell really badly." I asked her why she didn't tell me - especially since I pretty much had no sense of smell and had forgotten that it was out. Her response "Common sense would tell you it smelled" I wanted to take the pan I was cleaning and hit her upside the head with it. That was like telling a color blind man that common sense should tell him that the sky was blue. ARGH!

People often ask me how I can taste food if I can't smell it - for me its all about the texture. I *love* the texture of Feta Cheese. I only recently found out its one of the worst smelling cheeses out there.....

Posted By: Leslie | June 14, 2011 9:56 AM

What an wonderful and largely unexplored subject--how smell and taste can show us pieces of God's beauty. Ps 34:8 "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good..."

I am right now laying on my couch, recovering from massive sinus surgery--haven't smelled a thing in a year at least. There are benefits to that, too. I am immune to fish and farts.

And Yes! to Katelyn. We non-smellers still can revel in texture: crunchy, smooth, or pearly. And temperature: piping hot, or ice cold. And we still have those blunt-instrument psuedo-tastes of sweet/sour/spicy/salty. There's no denying that hot curry makes us sweat. Just don't ask us if that fizzy, cold, sweet drink is coke or root beer.

My sinuses don't get "unpacked" till Thursday, but I've already had one really wonderful new (or new-again) sensation: menthol toothpaste. How it floats up the back of the throat with its spicy coolness! I could brush for hours.

However we find ourselves, with no sense of smell, or just a little, or like my son, who has the nose of a bloodhound, there is much to praise our Creator for.

Posted By: Annie Kirkby | June 14, 2011 4:35 PM

"Just don't ask us if that fizzy, cold, sweet drink is coke or root beer"

They have smells?!? LOL. I've always like Barq's root beer because its got a thicker taste to it. It falls back to the texture. Its a weird, weird thing.

Posted By: Leslie | June 14, 2011 4:46 PM

i never appreciated my sense of smell till i married my husband. he voluntered to assist watch what i was cooking while i went grocery shopping. by the time i came back the whole thing was burnt and the man was happily watching tv without realising what had happened.
it was then that reality hit me that what i took for granted was actually a blessing. please lets appreciate that sense of smell for those of us who have it. and not beleive that everyone has the gift.

Posted By: oluyomi | June 15, 2011 5:05 AM

What a beautiful subject. I think sensory existence is a gift, but when we are deaf or cannot smell or blind, it seems that our imagination seeps into that hole and fills it with a new way to be creative.

I remember a friend telling me a story of her friend who could not smell; and they were walking together in the spring and my friend commented how wonderful the tulip poplars smelled. The woman who could not smell asked, "What does it smell like?" Immediately feeling sorry for what she had unthinkingly said, my friend thought for a minute, and then replied, "It smells like how bubblegum tastes."

Posted By: Stephanie Smith | June 15, 2011 6:44 AM

The flip side of this is when you have an over-developed olfactory that allows you to smell things that most people miss. Sometimes good--sometimes not so much!

Isn't it great that God provides us with a sense of smell and then gave us the fragrance of roses, lilacs and fresh rain to delight us!

Interesting topic. Thanks!

Posted By: Suzy | June 15, 2011 7:19 AM

I once heard writing advice that urged novelists to use all five senses in their descriptions. So we need to show what someone saw, heard and tasted, felt, smelled. It adds a depth of dimension and realism that most overlook. And yet we experience--or not--every day.

This sounds like a fascinating book. I wrote down the title. Thank you for your thoughts, Rachel.

Posted By: Laura K. Droege | June 15, 2011 8:09 AM

I will have to check out Molly's book. I have been studying, as a scientist, the use of the human senses for many years. Healthy Life Press will be releasing my new book, Richer Descriptions - A Guide to the Human Senses for Christian Speakers and Writers - in August of this year. My writer's website will go live at that time. In this book I cover the NINE human senses. I link the science of the senses to what the Bible says about the senses, and the Bible does refer to them a lot. Note that we were created for a sensory experience! Look for my book in August. And I will purchase and read through Molly's book. The science of the senses is developing quickly, and scientists are close to making some big breakthroughs. It is a very exciting time to be studying the human senses.

Posted By: Gary A. Burlingame | June 15, 2011 12:07 PM