aroma: 40 words in 40 days

Few things are as primal to us humans as the sense of smell. 

Scientists and psychologists alike are fascinated by the link of smell to memory and emotion. Smells evoke memory faster and stronger than our other senses. Just the other day I smelled shampoo and went down memory lane to the summer camp of my childhood. I could recall every detail of that dark concrete block musty shower. 

While at the summer camp, I smelled the aroma of Christ. I asked the director, Heno Head, what was different about the people there. He shared the gospel with me. At 10 years of age, I bowed my knee to Christ. I wanted what they had. They were a pleasing aroma.

Several times the New Testament refers to a fragrant offering. In 2 Corinthians, believers are called the aroma of Christ and fragrance of life. The Greek word is linked all the way back to the sacrifices of the temple. When the priests offered up the lamb or other meat, the burning of it produced a smell like your best charcoal grills. I’ve not often thought about what smell would have been about the temple. 

When we were in Paris, we visited Notre Dame Cathedral. Priests walked the aisle with enormous censers. The fragrant smoke rising to the ceiling symbolized our prayers rising to heaven. 

My online lexicon states that aroma in the Greek is related to the ancient notion that God smells and is pleased with the odor of sacrifices. Is God pleased with my aroma? Because of Christ, yes. 

Today I will muse the aroma I am emitting. Is it the fragrance of life? Is it the smell of death?