Vol. 17 No. 27 | July 5, 2015
There sure are a lot of different smells! Odd way to begin an article, right? Seriously, have you ever noticed all the different smells and aromas you encounter every day?
As I leave home in the morning and walk from the bathroom, through the bedroom, through the kitchen through the laundry room, through garage, outside and into my car. Each room has a different aroma. From the fresh smell of soap and shampoo and cologne in the bathroom, I pass through the bedroom where the new quilted Coverlet has a unique scent. The kitchen smells of brewed coffee and toasted English Muffin. The laundry room smells detergent and hot water. The garage reminds me that it has been raining during the night and the humidity is high. Outside the wet grass and pavement gives off a special and somewhat unpleasant smell. Inside the car I remember that we brought home leftovers from the restaurant last night.
Driving to work the aroma of Starbucks drifts through window at the drive through. The fragrance of freshly mowed grass seeps through the air vents from the fields on both sides of the road to replace the stifling exhaust from a semi. An occasional stop at the local Donut Palace offers the tempting aroma of freshly baked pastries.
Walking from my car to the office building I notice a neighbor across the street has downed a tree and the scent of cut wood floats across the parking lot. Inside the door is the familiar smell of the workplace that has no real identifiable source. Passing through the offices one may notice the fragrance of fresh flowers or candles are not uncommon.
Further down the hall one detects that meals are being prepared in the kitchen one floor below. Opening the door to my office it is obvious that the door has been closed and the air has not circulated since Friday afternoon. Turning on the fan and lighting a beach-scented candle restores a freshness to the office.
The variety of odors, aromas, fragrances, and smells on any given day seems to have no limit. The hospital. The grocery store. A restaurant. Coffee shops. Office buildings. People. Each one has its own unique aroma and fragrances. Each uniquely suited for the place or the person. Each one seems to carry a specific image or memory from another place and another time.
It is that imagery that Paul uses to describe what we are to be as followers of Jesus. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NIV)
Just as walking through a house, or by driving down the street one can experience a variety of pleasant and unpleasant aromas, how we conduct ourselves as we move through the world will produce either a pleasant or unpleasant aroma to those with whom we interact. To our God we are “the pleasing aroma of Christ.” What are we to those around us?
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2015. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.