The epiglottis is the thin, triangular, lid-like, piece of cartilage that folds back over the opening of the windpipe during swallowing, thus preventing food, etc, from entering the lungs. It is normally open so that breathing is possible, and it closes involuntarily when swallowing. Occasionally, however, it doesn't function properly, and a foreign substance is sucked into the windpipe. This evokes violent choking and coughing which usually expels the offending object. Serious obstruction of the air passage over a rather short period of time, as in the case of drowning, can cause brain damage or death due to asphyxiation.
Some years ago I began using a well known nasal spray to alleviate the stuffy nose symptom of a cold. Shortly thereafter I began having trouble swallowing. It finally became so severe that I had difficulty swallowing liquids. The doctors gave me a fluoroscopic examination while I swallowed, with great difficulty, a barium sulfate "cocktail." This test showed a definite constriction of my esophagus, which was causing the trouble. I was scheduled for surgery, but I started to wonder if my problem could be caused by the nasal spray. So, I decided to terminate the medication just to see if that would help Lo and behold, my swallowing problem disappeared and I never did have the operation. Ever since then, however, I have had to be careful that I don't choke when swallowing. Just the other day I became choked while drinking a glass of water. Evidently, I have an epiglottal problem.
I believe that many of us have a spiritual epiglottal problem. We are told that the senses are the avenues to the soul; what we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste makes an almost indelible imprint on synapses of the cerebral cortex. These imprints are stored away deep within the memory banks of the brain and apparently forgotten, but then a certain sensory sensation can recall that memory vividly. Psychologists tell us that no sensory experience is ever completely deleted from the brain, except perhaps through a brain injury. Some sensory experiences can result in habits of thinking and acting, and these may be good habits or bad ones. Each one of us has the power to regulate what information enters our brains, we have that power of choice that I have chosen to call a spiritual epiglottis that determines what our brains swallow. Is what we are inhaling true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper? "If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, then think on these things" (Phil 4:8, KJV). How is your spiritual epiglottis?
