lenten thoughts on smell
Lent is a season when followers of Jesus intentionally try to move closer to God, so this year, we will try to move closer by considering the countless ways we encounter God through our senses.
This week, we are focusing on smell. Our reflections are from Pastor Kevin Shock and Deacon Alicia Anderson. Kevin and Alicia share some thoughts on the prompt:
“What smell helps you feel the love of God?”
memory
As with so many of our senses, smelling something can stir up a memory. Sometimes it also works the other way around. Some smells are so ingrained into our bodies that thinking of something can cause our nose to seek out the related smell. I can still almost smell the warm flood of food in the air as I walked into my grandparents’ house on Thanksgiving or Christmas so many times. The same is true for my Dad tossing his fragrant leather wallet on the bed as he got home from work, when I was a young child. Those smells meant love and connection.
I love the smells in church, especially the lingering smells of candle smoke or incense. When I was a parish pastor, I often went back to the sanctuary after a worship service before I left the building to breathe deeply. The lingering scents of candles and people’s clothing or perfume or soap and sometimes flowers or shared food from the fellowship hall would help me remember the interactions that happened, how we prayed together, took notice of others, sang loudly or softly, and shared a simple meal. Love was present there, in more than one way. It was especially so if those smells followed a wedding or a funeral. All those smells meant that something had happened there, something good and loving and kind.
What smells do you notice when you breathe in deeply today?
Can you sense the lingering scent of something good that happened?
Can you smell the presence of Love?
— Pastor Kevin Shock
Former LCM Board Member and Assistant to the Bishop of the Allegheny Synod
dry pine
Most of my life, I’ve lived in humid places, but for the first two years after college, I lived in the Denver area. It is part of the region known as the “front range,” just east of the Rocky Mountains and is a semi-arid climate. I have many memories from those times, and a very clear scent memory is the smell of pine on a warm dry day. In dry air pine smells very different than in moist air. I’ve smelled that particular scent again on summer days while visiting western states, like on a trip to Yellowstone a few summers ago. Every once in a while, I am surprised to get a whiff of dry pine on a hot summer evening near the stand of pine trees at the end of my street here in humid Lemont.
Just one sniff takes me back to those magical days. There were so many transitions in the first years after college. A new city, new job, new friends, new lifestyle, and countless new experiences. I learned so much about myself, 1000+ miles from home and family. Backpacking in the Rocky Mountains. Exploring a new city. Building friendships. Figuring out what I was going to do with my future. Revising my plans when my life took a different course. That dry pine tree smell reminds me of a time of new beginnings. A time of discovery. A time of hope.
There were some lonely and frightening times. There were also some wonderful times. I made both good choices and poor ones. I was blessed to be surrounded by people who walked with me, listened to me, laughed with me, and shared the journey. We were friends who helped each other when we could and became family. God was there in that dry place, in those loving people, in the beauty of the mountains, in the adventures I had exploring a new chapter of life. That dry pine smell reminds me how God has been with me and cared for me everywhere I’ve been.
– Alicia Anderson, Campus Minister with Lutheran Campus Ministry at Penn State
O God,
As I breathe in the very breath of life, I take in so many scents.
I smell rich, spicy and savory meals where family and friends share love.
I smell rainy days and the fresh aftermath of a storm wih the promise of new beginnings.
I smell familiar places and the people who comfort and support me.
I smell new scents, unknown adventures, and possibiliites that lie in the future.
Remind me that you are with me in the air I breathe and in all the varried scents I take in with each breath. Amen.
God created our bodies and gave us marvelous senses through which we engage with the world around us. Every day, whether we think about it or not, we encounter God’s presence through sensory experiences that are holy or silly or powerful or unremarkable. This Lent we will move closer to God by noticing and reflecting on these sense-driven experiences.
We invite you to share your own thoughts and observations on what touch helps you feel God’s love on this link to our Instagram thread this week.
You can share an image or a thought or just a word or two.
Blessings to you this Lent. May we all sense God’s loving presence.
Peace,
Alicia
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