Ahh-choo! Ahh-choo! I’m sorry. I just sneezed. Something was irritating or tickling the inside of my nose again. I know that it’s my body’s way of removing an irritation. But if I sneeze ten to fifteen times a day, shouldn’t I be alarmed? I sneeze two to three times as soon as I wake up in the morning. I sneeze several times in the office whenever I smell the mouthpiece of the phone. I sneeze when I smell the spices in the kitchen. I sneeze when I am exposed to pollen. I sneeze everywhere and in every situation.
My nose is just so comfortable sneezing out the “things” it doesn’t want inside. As if in cahoots, my brain sends a message to all my muscles that an alien passed a forbidden territory. My eyes blink, my stomach lurches, my lungs suck in air so it could toss out the strange thing that entered my nose.
My sneezes in the morning serve as the alarm clock waking me up and welcoming me to greet a new day. My sneezes in the office made me decide that I won’t buy the cologne or perfume that was wiped on the mouthpiece of the phone. My sneezes in the kitchen remind me that I still have a lot spices in stock. My sneezes when exposed to pollen tell me that it is springtime. I have a lot of time to enjoy the sun and feel its heat.
Come to think of it, my sneezes send a message that I am amazingly alive and the systems in my body are functioning very well. Psalm 139:14 (NIV) states: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Next time you sneeze, say a word of thanks to God.
Marie Agustin
May 2, 2005
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