Definition for Meta-Sense-Able
Glossary
Meta-sense-able (see also: Sense-able)
We need to introduce and define two terms relative to the Language of the Body. Both are coined for use in STOSS. They are sense-able and meta-sense-able. On February 20, 1980, JP II said something that I believe is one of his most profound statements regarding the body. He said, “The body, in fact, and it alone is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God [John Paul II, in his general audience of February 20, 1980, “Man Enters the World as a Subject of Truth and Love,” Theology of the Body, ©Libreria Editrice Vaticana (Third Millennium Media L.L.C., The Faith Database L.L.C., 2008), n. 4].” As profound as this statement is, I would nevertheless like to modify it slightly. To incorporate STOSS into the understanding of the Pope’s words, I would rephrase it thus: The body, and it alone is capable of transferring the spiritual and divine into physical creation, and doing so through the sense-able and meta-sense-able components of the language of the body.
The meta-sense-able component of the expression cannot be heard, tasted, touched, seen, and/or smelled by the bare (unaided) senses. However, it can be sensed, either directly or indirectly, through the aid of scientific instrumentation or sensors. While the word meta-sense-able describes something invisible to the naked eye, it is not confused with the spiritual and divine to which JP II refers. It belongs to the classification of physical matter/creation — not the spiritual.
Many fail to make this distinction, which leads them into grave error. New-agers and Rosicrucians are only a couple of many examples of those who confuse uncreated and immeasurable Supernatural Life/Light with created and meta-sense-able light/energy/vibration that is a part of the physical universe created by God. There is nothing in STOSS that can be classified as New Age! There is a litmus test to determine whether or not some invisible phenomenon can be accurately attributed as New Age. If the energy, vibration, light, etc., can be measured and quantified, it is not New Age. That truth does not necessarily prevent New-Agers from trying to hijack the energy for their false Philosophy. Still, neither does it stop them from attempting to hijack the words of Scripture.
Let me provide some examples of created physical phenomena that fall into the meta-sense-able category. Gravity can’t be sensed by any of the five senses, but the effects of gravity (e.g., the apple falling from the tree) are sense-able. Sensing the effect is different than sensing the energy itself. However, through the use of a gravimeter, we can quantify the strength of a gravitational field. Likewise, the electromagnetic energy of, say, a microwave oven cannot be sensed (we can hear the unit that produces it and feel its heat, but not the photons themselves). However, instrumentation exists, which will allow us to see and hear discrete packets of energy (photons) traveling in electromagnetic waves.
We cannot see bacteria, quarks, ions, etc., but sophisticated microscopes provide us with the ability to see them. We cannot sense when a gene from the salt of our DNA is expressing a protein, but with instrumentation, we can see it. We cannot perceive an atom, but through high-powered electron microscopes, we can sense individual atoms. Angels/spirits, even though they are created beings, would not fall under the meta-sense-able classification because instrumentation to detect them does not yet exist, to my knowledge. They are created beings, but not physical beings.