The other day at work …

(Yes folks, I’ve been observing and doing some thinking again!)

Where was I?

Oh …

The other day at work we had an elderly woman all dressed in beautiful fabrics come in for her cataract surgery.  She had her two daughters and a daughter-in-law with her.  Momma spoke little English so the younger girls were the interpreters and caretakers of this lovely matriarch.  They were all very pleasant women but the one thing that made an impression on me was …

They smelled so good!  And I’m not talking about any perfume or strong fabric softener on their clothes.

You know how you go to a greasy Coney Island and come away with that fried onion smell?  Well, these women smelled of curry, and spice, and ginger, and coriander, and turmeric, and other exotic flavors.  They smelled delicious.

And I TOLD them that.  (I’m not shy.)

I said to them, “You ladies smell so delicious!  I know what’s cooking in YOUR house and I would love to come to dinner to eat what you are cooking!”

Do you know what they answered?  “Oh, you can come to our house and eat!  We have plenty of food.  We would love to share!”

They really were all very sweet and appreciative of the care we gave to their dear and precious momma.  When they left, momma said “Tank’Jou” to us and insisted on giving me a spicy hug.

It made me think

I’ve heard that you can smell fear on people.  What does it smell like?  What about angry people.  Do they have a certain smell?  What kind of fragrance do I give off?  Do I convey an air of sweet peace, or do I stink with sin and contempt?

In 2 Corinthians 2:15 we read “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”  Ohhh … I like that.  If we share Christ with others, we are like a sweet odor of Christ as we let Him work through us to diffuse such a sweet perfume as the love and grace of Jesus.

 

In my anatomy class that I took some twenty years ago, I learned about all the nerve pathways that run up and down our necks and spine.  There are twelve nerves that branch out to control our bodies from the neck up and help with sight, taste, hearing, and all nerve responses in our heads or craniums.  Each pair of nerves are named and in the same order as every other normal, healthy human.  I distinctly remember how the first cranial nerve was the ‘olfactory’ nerve which is responsible for our sense of smell.  Second to that nerve is the ‘optic’ nerve that obviously helps with our vision.  My anatomy teacher told us that the way she would remember which nerve came first (the sight or smell nerve) is that you can always smell a fire burning before you see a fire.   Smell came first.  Perhaps God created us that way on purpose – giving smell a priority over sight – because it really doesn’t matter what you look like if you stink like a skunk – either figuratively or literally.  You can pretend to be all righteous and caring and true, but other people can smell your rotten attitude.

So, I’m still going to shower.  And even though I think it would be yummy to smell like an exotic curry, it is my hope that I can be a pleasing aroma of Christ to others.

How are you smelling today?

Just Laurel