Trusting the Senses

     We rely heavily upon our five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell—and for the most part we trust them without question. Some count intuition as a sixth sense. Others refer to internal senses including a mental sense and such things as sexual arousal as additional senses. There are also things that might be considered a sense such as humor, fear, or anxiety. Religious Recovery encourages us to feel. And the ability to feel in the emotional definition of the word could also be considered a sense. Eyes do not have emotional reactions. We see images, but the mental and sometimes spiritual makeup of our being interpret those images and make “sense” of them. The same can be said of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and physical touch.
     Emotions become a mental/spiritual process conditioned by past experiences. The spiritual nature of our being could also be considered an additional sense that is most compatible with intuition and our mental capabilities working in unison—or at times in opposition. Not all feelings have to be spiritual in nature, but most can be useful to us in developing our connection to a Higher Power. In trying to change our lives to be more at peace with ourselves and with our brothers and sisters, we find it helps to remember that our five core senses are neutral. What I touch, see, hear, smell, or taste is a neutral experience. How my mind working with my Spirit interprets those encounters determines my contentment—or lack of—at any given moment.
     Because our core senses are neutral, we can shape our lives according to the images we desire. We can choose to believe the world is round and not flat. We can choose to believe in a Divine Being and call that being by any name we choose, or by no name. We can choose to change our lives in spiritual, ethical, and emotional ways.
     Part of the process of change involves trusting our senses, not so much our core senses, but our sixth sense of intuition and our seventh sense of spirituality. Decisions made based on intuition and spirituality bring fulfillment and meaning to life. They help us interpret our world in positive ways that nurture our connection with The Divine. Intuition and spirituality also enable us to break free from old, negative, and destructive thoughts which produce destructive behaviors.
     All of our senses are useful. It’s up to us to discern which ones work for a better world and which ones don’t. At times the same sense can bring opposite results, so we rely heavily on intuition and common sense, always coupled with the spiritual sense to be the overriding factor in all decisions.