c.s. lewis said, "...the angels are, i suppose, pure intelligences. they understand colors and tastes better than our greatest scientists..."
it wasn't until i was in college that i realized that i was unusual in that i could do something that not very many people can do - i can taste sounds. others who have another form of this gift can hear colors. others can feel numbers. it's called "synesthesia." and it's a thing.
it's a thing that only to a very limited degree can be measured. but scientists study it anyway. they try to figure out who has it and who doesn't.
anyone who has it can tell them: i do. (we can't make this stuff up.)
being "able" (it's not like i do something to make it happen)to taste sounds has, i guess, opened a lot of doors for me that otherwise might not have been opened. maybe it's why i'm a half-way decent cook. i know it's why i like words and why i like to write. it also got me through school without too much effort (not sure if that's the good news or the bad)...i used to memorize stuff based on how it sounded/tasted. i'd go into class to take a test and just write down a menu. who was the third president of the united states? pancakes. pancakes with a LOT of syrup.
i mean, jefferson.
being "able" to taste sounds has added a dimension to my life that you probably don't have in yours. when was the last time you listened to mozart and tasted tomato sauce with garlic when the strings section played?
when was the last time you ran through the sprinkler with its whish-whish sound and enjoyed (my mom's) homemade mushroom soup?
you know all those notification sounds? sauerkraut, meatloaf, tacos, and chocolate milkshakes. just for starters.
but the best thing about being "able" to taste sounds is that it is a gift. a gift from God. a bodily gift that for some reason He decided to give to me.
and the rest of what c.s. lewis said about angels and colors and tastes is this:
"but for our body, one whole realm of God's glory - all that we receive through the senses - would go unpraised. for the beasts can't appreciate it, and the angels are, i suppose, pure intelligences. they understand colors and tastes better than our greatest scientists; but have they retinas or palates? i fancy the "beauties of nature" are a secret God has shared with us alone. that may be one of the reasons why we were made - and why the resurrection of the body is such an important doctrine."
and to think that i just thought i could taste sounds.
