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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Breathe (08/19/10)
Ruthie could scarcely breathe without opening her mouth to teach. We often reminded her, "Hey, this isn't school and we aren't your students!" She would actually tell a room full of family, "You aren't paying attention!" She seemed to require having the floor, all the time. Not much chance for a discussion, or even to get a word in edgewise, with Ruthie holding court.

But, she did give us something to think about when we were willing to listen. Like the time she got on the subject of our senses. "How many do we have?" she began, to which we replied, "Five, of course."

"Women have a 'sixth sense,' too, you know," Patty added with a grin.

"What if I told you we have to have SEVEN senses," Ruthie smiled, a bit
triumphantly I thought.

"I'm sure we don't have to ask how you came up with that information," one of the brothers muttered.

"Think about it. Seven is the perfect number, God‘s number. He created us in His image and said His creation was 'very good.' So, if we only have five senses, now, we've lost two of them with the Fall into sin."

"Well, I for one cannot figure out what might be missing." Another brother with his arms folded as if to say 'I dare you to teach me anything I don't already know' grinned back at Ruthie.

"How did Adam get his soul?" Ruthie continued, ignoring the comments. "God formed his body out of clay and then He BREATHED into him the breath of life and Adam became a living soul. So, we're in God's image and we have His breath in us. They tell us we only use ten percent of our brain, and the Bible tells us that before the flood of Noah's day that people lived ten times longer. Just imagine what we would have been capable of if we hadn't lost ninety percent of the 'very good' that God created us to be! Patty, what do you call that sixth sense you mentioned?"

"Intuition."

"And, what is the definition of intuition? Who has a dictionary handy?"

"Here!" The host drew a book from the shelf. "Let me see, it says 'the ability to perceive something immediately, without going through the reasoning process; direct perception or immediate insight.'"

"Did you catch that? 'Insight' or inner vision is the sixth sense. Anybody ever experience that?" Most of the women in the room, and one of the brothers, nodded.

"I think as Christians we have received back some of what humanity lost in the Fall, but not as completely as what we were created to have. And, I think the Savant is a revelation from God to show us more of what we lost. In fact, I think we've developed technology to try and replace some of it, knowing something we should have is definitely missing."

"Like what?" the folded-arms brother asked.

"How about the tape recorder? Some so-called primitive cultures, like the Savant, can hear something once and repeat it back as if it had been recorded in their heads."

"Okay, but what could the 'seventh sense' possibly be," Patty asked.

Ruthie smiled, "Of our five senses, which one is valued at the top of the list along with sight?"

"Hearing," several responded.

"Let me tell you a story," Ruthie began. "One hot summer day, I took a seat on the city bus and realized what a poor choice I‘d made. A young man in the seat ahead smelled bad. And, he looked so uncared for. His face ripe with acne sores, his greasy hair had clumps of scabs in it. I was so dismayed to see him, I thought, 'somebody only a mother could love,' and even a mother would have trouble loving that. Just as fast as the thought entered my mind, I heard whispered inside my head 'Jesus loved him enough to die for him,' with a tone of such compassion in the voice. I know that didn't come out of my own brain, because my eyes instantly stung with tears. Of course, I replied inside my head, how could I have thought so little of a blood-bought soul?"

"Oh, Ruthie, that's awesome!" Patty's own eyes glistened. "So, inner hearing of the still small Voice, breathing a message for us, just when we need to hear it, is the seventh sense. Makes sense to me!"
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
08/28/10
This is an interesting story. You created a fast tempo that demonstrated how the MC's mind and mouth worked. I liked how you brought back most of the previous topics and blended them with this week's.
Amanda Brogan
08/28/10
This goes really well with the "senses" that we've been doing in the Challenge. I remember at the start of the quarter, many of us were trying to figure out how they would come up with more than five senses for the topics. Now we know. :)