If the Bells Ring Sweeter...

Our senses form a six-member team.
Wait—six?
Yes, five plus one makes six—and hopefully, that makes sense too.

Shall we go through the list of senses quickly,
before the horses do?
Let’s do that—then my question will make more sense
as to why Christmas bells rely on a different sense altogether.

One by One, Sense by Sense

Those two shiny marbles in our eye sockets
absorb billions of impressions every single day—
and rarely complain about the overload.
Our eyes are like books:
opened each morning to read page after page
of whatever the new day decides to bring.
Without that very first glance around seven a.m.,
the world wouldn’t necessarily appear “in order.”

Next come the waves—
not the ocean kind, but the sound kind—
rolling straight into the ears
and setting the inside of them joyfully in motion.
That’s why musically gifted people
seem to walk through life with an extra bounce.
Like our eyes, our ears come in pairs—
strategically placed,
because you never quite know where the next sound wave will attack from.

Then there’s the nose—
our personal radar for life’s invisible aromas.
“Can’t stand the smell of that guy”
isn’t just an expression—it’s an evolutionary safety system.
The nose, clever as it is, sniffs out danger—fire, rotten food,
and, yes, toxic people.
It also has a nose for love—
that first intoxicating scent that later may or may not age well.

Taste, meanwhile, is a lifestyle choice.
Those who have taste—literally and figuratively—
enjoy life more fully.
The world either tastes good… or it doesn’t.
And that brings us right back to the bells
and their oh-so-sweet tone. Got it?

Touch isn’t only for pianos and keyboards.
It’s the department of fingertips and feeling.
Our touch sensors are highly specialized,
built to detect temperature, pressure, and pain—
the three elements of daily survival.
They guide us through the shifting textures of life.

How many senses so far? Five?
Hold on, stay with me—there’s one more.

The Sixth Sense (No Ghosts Involved)

This last one’s a little… out there.
It even has a name that sounds like a scientific tongue-twister:
Proprioception.
No wonder it rarely gets invited into conversation.
This undercover agent, however,
has one fascinating job—
it tells your body where it is in space.
Not outer space—your space.
It’s your inner GPS.

Using sensors in your muscles, tendons, and joints,
it constantly reports back to headquarters
about your balance, position, and posture.
A 24/7 feedback system that keeps you upright,
dancing, walking, and occasionally tripping
—gracefully or not.

And that, ladies and gentlemen,
is your six-pack of senses.
Thank you for your… sensible attention.

Now, About Those Christmas Bells…

Ah yes—the old line about bells ringing “sweeter than ever.”
Somewhere between 1816 and 1890,
a theologian got lost in translation—literally.
His name was Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger,
and he wanted to fill the Christmas season
with hope, peace, and a touch of joy.

So he sat down and began to scribble.
Hours turned into days, days into weeks—
until that fateful moment when he looked at the title
“Sweeter the Bells Never Sound.”

“Yes! That’s it! A classic!” he wrote beside it.
And indeed—it became one.

But linguistically?
Let’s just say… it was a sensational mistake.

Ursprünglich erschienen auf swisschris.ca