We have five senses.  We each possess the senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing.  Through accident or illness or age these senses might be lost.

My wife lost her sense of taste 10 months ago when she had a mild case of COVID.  She would not have known that she even had COVID but for the fact that she lost her sense of taste.  It may just now be returning.

Old John Boyer lost his sense of smell in an accident.  As I observed him on his tractor dragging away the body of a several-day's-dead cow I thought it a great blessing that he was not able to smell.

I once lost the ability to walk for six months.  From my couch I recall watching how people's legs worked as they walked across the living room.  They gave no thought to what they were doing, nor to how it was done.  I studied their motions hoping that I could imitate them, but I could not.  They took their ability to walk for granted.  I longed to possess it again.

We all have a sixth sense which we need to treasure.  If we don't treasure it and nourish it, we'll lose it.  Many have.

The sense to which I'm referring is our sense of awe.  We are surrounded by miracles and wondrous things which need to be noticed, and for which thanks need to be given.  If thanks are not given we quickly take these miracles and blessings for granted and cease being amazed.  We lose our sense of awe.

I have always loved to walk, and to be a part of the earth and the things around me.  As a boy, as I got off the bus from school, I quickly changed my clothes and headed for the woods.  Throughout my life if I had a choice of driving or of walking I always chose to walk.  I listened to the birds; felt the air, breeze, and sunshine; and marveled at the trees, animals, and mountains.  Imagine how I felt as I sat on my couch unable to even go outdoors.  I was suddenly very grateful for having had the ability to walk, wished I had it back again, and wondered why I had taken it for granted.

My body is a marvel.  I am in awe at what it can do.  I need to be thankful for it, and enjoy it.  In a coming day I'll not have it for a while, and I'll look upon that state as a bondage.  (D&C 45:17).  I need to treat my body right, take care of it, and be grateful for it.  I must maintain my sense of awe about my body and its abilities.

My family is a miracle.  I am in awe that the Father of us all allows me to share in fatherhood.  He has entrusted me with the care and training of His most precious possessions.  He is allowing me the opportunity to learn to love as He loves, to see and to understand as He sees, and to become as He is.

I love the covey of 36 quail that run across my yard several times a day, and that roost in our spruce tree at night.  I show my gratitude by supplying them with a block of bird seed to enable them to get through the winter.  I am in awe at the variety and beauty of the bird life around me.

Each spring I go up in the woods to look for the first glacier lily.  A glacier lily is a five-petaled, yellow, and happy-looking flower.  On the 20^th of May I know where to go to find calypso orchids—lady slippers.  They're unusual, beautiful, rare, and delicate.  I am in awe at the huge variety of the colors and shapes of flowers.  Each species is different.  My wife went through her garden last summer and listed 42 flowers that she could name.  There were others that she couldn't.  They're all here by the grace of God for the purpose of gladdening our eyes.

Are we glad?  Are we in awe?

And the fruits that He's given us!  With a little work we're privileged to raise them.  What can be more thrilling than to move strawberry leaves aside and find a nest of big, red, luscious strawberries?  My grandchildren arrive in our driveway, bail out of the car, and run, not to see me, but to the strawberry patch to find strawberries.  I hope they feel a sense of awe in being able to do that.

I counted up over a dozen different fruits with which the Lord has provided me in my Garden of Eden.  Each one is exciting and different and flavorful, and I can't decide which is my favorite.  It depends upon the season.  And the abundance!  There are enough cherries for us and the birds, too.  I can pick up all of the walnuts under the tree, and go back the next day and fill another bucket.  I fill the greenhouse with them, where they dry, and I am grateful.

And speaking of seasons, I'm grateful for them, too.  I have lived where seasons don't exist.  I'm grateful for snow, and spring, and warm weather, and for the silence and colors of fall.

I am in awe at the orderliness of this world.  I live up on a hill where the valley below me stretches away to the east and is bounded by a range of mountains over which the sun rises.  One of my favorite things to do is to be up early to watch the sun rise.  On the longest day of the year the sun peeks over the horizon way to the north over the right flank of China Cap in the Wallowa Mountains. I watch as it comes up a minute later moving a bit to the south each day.  On the shortest day of the year it's coming up clear over the hills east of Baker.  Many of those sunrises are spectacular.  My camera and computer are filled with pictures of the sunrise, and every one is different.  I am in awe at the way God has ordered the seasons, and has arranged for the sun and the earth to move in such harmony.

I am in awe that my wife loves me.  I am in awe at her energy as she cares for me, and cared for our children.  Why would she have ever signed up for such a task?

Dick Cress was a single, 60-year-old man.  One day he confided in me that he was going to be married.  I hadn't known that he even had a girl friend.

“No kidding,” I said.  “And she loves you, and everything!?”

“Yes,” he replied.  “I'm astonished!”

I liked that a lot.  It's astonishing that any virtuous woman could love a man.  That man is foolish who allows himself to take his wife for granted.  And think for a moment how in awe we must be that the Lord intends for that marriage relationship to be for eternity!

And why in the world am I alive right now in Eastern Oregon and not 600 years ago in Medieval Europe?  My ancestors there had to deal with war and disease and bondage and poverty.  I'm surrounded by comforts, technology, peace, penicillin, and plenty.  I understand the plan.  I understand that I made promises with those ancestors that if they'd come when things were hard, that I'd see to it that their temple work would be done.  I am in awe to think that I was reserved for this time and place and purpose.

I am in awe at my spiritual blessings.  I just finished reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Those four gospels are astonishing.  I am astonished at their testimonies.  I am astonished at their harmony.  I am grateful that they made the effort to write.  I am astonished at Jesus' life, His teachings, His miracles, His love, and His sacrifice.  He did all of that for me?  I am in awe.

I hold His Priesthood.  How awesome is that?  He trusts me to administer, to teach, to give blessings, and to serve in the temple.  Me, of all people!  He has also given me the ability to repent of all my stupid sins.  He has given me peace of conscience.  He has given me the gift of a member of the Godhead to be my constant companion.  He has given me the gift of being able to serve.  He has given me the promise of an eternal resurrection.

I am in awe.  I want to keep my sense of awe.  I will maintain my sense of awe as I look for things to be grateful for.  They are all around me.  I am surrounded by miracles.  They are an everyday, everywhere-present occurrence if I look for them.  I must not take them for granted.

I must maintain my sense of awe.