Elul 21 :: What's That I Smell?

The sense of smell is a powerful thing. Nothing takes us immediately to another time or another place like a "whiff" of something that triggers an event, memory, or person. Walking through the park one autumn day, we passed a shady, overgrown area that backed up to someone's yard where a pile of leaves was being (illegally) burned. The combination of damp and mildew with the smoke instantly transported me back to the rainforest where I lived for a time in Africa.

Growing up, and during the years raising my own children, a fond memory was the baking of cinnamon rolls for special occasions. Even now, the smell of fresh bread or cookies when I walk into a house or bakery throws out any sense of determination to shed a few pounds or count calories. It is the same phenomena that prompts realtors to pop a batch of cinnamon rolls into the oven for an open house home showing.

Reading today's Elul devotion brought up those memories because it related the idea of Sabbath observance with the fragrant and inviting aromas of fresh bread and frankincense that would fill the Temple. But today, "The new dwelling place on earth in which the Holy One has chosen to dwell is none other than the hearts, minds, souls, and bodies of His People."

That thought makes me more conscious of the fact that we should be living our lives in such a way that those around us are catching a whiff of YHVH at work in us... or, "the scent of the Bread of Life and the aroma of humility, gratitude, lovingkindness, prayerfulness, praise and worship."

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. - II Corinthians 2:15-16 (NKJV)

Shabbat shalom from our home