Often, when we encounter something
we really like, we say something like: “suweeet” or “yum-my.” In a gospel
sense, we often equate taste with goodness. In Psalms 119: 97 and 103, David proclaims:
O how love I thy law! it is my
meditation all the day. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter
than honey to my mouth!
David is extending the senses beyond mere functionality to mental imaging and imagination, as many other writers of the scriptures also do. We too express these sensations in terms of taste, smell, touch, seeing, and hearing in a metaphorical way because it allows us to convey understanding of a mental or spiritual process in terms of our physical world. The scriptures are replete with such references.
Although all five spiritual senses
are well represented in the scriptures, for purposes of this discussion, I
would like to focus on the idea of “tasting” the gospel. Like any other
faculty, our spiritual sense of taste must be developed before it can function
in support of our quest to return to Father-in-Heaven. Bruce R. McConkie, in
his book, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, describes this process:
As the Lord reveals his mind and
will line upon line and precept upon precept; as growing mortals must drink the
milk of the word before they feast at tables heaped high with the delicacies of
eternity; as men must taste the good word of God before they can feast upon the
mysteries of the kingdom—so they must drink at the biblical fountain before
they quench their thirst for righteousness at the great fountains from which
the words of eternal life flow in our day.
In
…the word is good, for it beginneth
to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it
beginneth to be delicious to me. (italics added)
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who can always be depended upon to provide a wonderfully descriptive turn of phrase, uses the words “tastebuds of the soul” to describe this sensation of spiritual taste. In his book, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, he tells us that righteousness is the key to developing our sense of spiritual taste:
Righteousness preserves and sharpens
the tastebuds of the soul,
while selfishness first scalds and then destroys them.
So our spiritual sense of taste is
also sensitive to those things which can lead us away from the gospel. Tasting
these things can seem harmless, but can be the first step into inactivity. Elder
Maxwell explains how sin can dull our spiritual tastebuds in his book, We Will Prove Them Herewith:
Life really becomes better only when
we become better. The diversions and the illusions are such that, unless we are
very careful, we will be diverted. Life unfolds only as we unfold spiritually.
It is the world that is always closing us down, as when sin scalds the tastebuds of
the soul and
we lose our appetite for true sweetness.
…uncleanliness dulls the tastebuds of
the soul and
renders us less sensitive to others, to the beauties of life, and to the
promptings of the Spirit.
Job himself said in Job 6:30:
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern
perverse things?
Job is
aware of the taste of sin. He recognizes the bitterness of sin and perversity –
he rejects it. Rejecting the opportunity to taste of iniquity is critical to
our eternal progress. The adversary beguiles – he tells us that bitter is sweet
and sweet is bitter. He tells us that sin isn’t sin, but just another form of
pleasure. As we partake of the bitterness of sin, as Elder Maxwell said, the
tastebuds of the soul are “first scalded and eventually destroyed” so that we
cannot any more discern the sweetness of the gospel, but only the satanic bitter
sweetness of sin.
Sometimes, when we shop at a “big
box” store such as Costco or Sam’s Club, especially on weekends, we encounter
nice ladies who want to give us a sample of some delicacy that the store is
marketing directly to us with the strongest of enticements – taste. We usually
cannot resist tasting, and sometimes, we actually buy a box or boxes of some
foodstuff we would not have bought otherwise. A very effective marketing tool,
but when we get it home, sometimes it’s not as “yum-my” as we thought it would
be. The adversary is also a very skilled marketer .This is the his approach: “Just
try it. One taste won’t hurt; no one will ever know.” In his preface to The
Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote:
The safest road to Hell is the
gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts."
Elder George A. Smith is quoted
thusly in the Journal of Discourses,
I have observed considerable upon
this matter; I know that indulging in habits of this kind, however simple they
may seem, they lead in the end to great evil…
We do understand that we must
partake of the trials and tribulations the Lord sees fit to burden us with (the
bitter of the earth), and we must also sustain ourselves with the sweet (the
gospel of the Lord). President Brigham Young said:
Can the people comprehend that there
is not, has not been, and never can by any method, scheme, or plan devised by
any being in this world for intelligence to eternally exist and obtain an
exaltation, without knowing the good and the evil-without tasting the bitter
and the sweet?
Certainly, President Young is
correct, but there is a huge difference between enduring with grace and
humbleness the trials we all face in this life and tasting of the sin the
adversary offers. In his book, One More
Strain of Praise, Elder Neal A. Maxwell helps us understand this:
…we are not only to possess the
capacity to discern and distinguish thusly; we are also to use our agency so
that we come to prefer, and even strongly desire, the taste of gospel goodness,
sweetness, and joy. This is part of educating the tastebuds
of the soul.
“Educating the tastebuds of the
soul” is a beautiful way of stating our purpose and goal in mortality. There is
nothing more important we can do than this. Doing so is a lifelong pursuit. We
study the scriptures, read good books, and as President Joseph Fielding Smith
said: “stand in holy places.” President Kimball admonished us to “do it” and
later to “do it now.” President George Albert Smith often said: “Keep on the
Lord’s side of the line.”
President Benson challenged us to spend
more time reading the Book of Mormon.
In fact, each of the prophets of
this dispensation has challenged us to educate our spiritual tastebuds so that
we can discern the beauties of eternity and the evils of the adversary. But the
point is – we do not need to actually sample Satan’s wares to know what to
avoid. Victor L. Ludlow in his book, Principles
and Practices of the Restored Gospel, offers this succinct advice:
A wise traveler does not have to
take the shortcut to realize the advantages of driving on the highway.
Likewise, the wise, sensitive person does not have to taste sin to know its
bitterness.
The key to this educative process
is, as with all other aspects of the gospel, the proper exercise of agency. For
added emphasis, I use Elder Maxwell’s quote above a second time:
…we are not only to possess the
capacity to discern and distinguish thusly; we are also to use our agency so
that we come to prefer, and even strongly desire, the taste of gospel goodness,
sweetness, and joy. This is part of educating the tastebuds
of the soul.
In his book, One More Strain of Praise, Elder Maxwell teaches that development
of the tastebuds of the soul is not only necessary but required for entrance
into the presence of our Father-in-Heaven.
Furthermore,
only those who have significantly developed the tastebuds of the soul will be
even partially prepared for the incredible beauties of the world ahead, one in
which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, . . . the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9).
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