And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5-2

I don’t know about you, but as I age, I’m noticing that my body is not so tolerant of the foods I’ve enjoyed over the years. I love seasonings, not hot peppers mind you, but all the sweet and savory herbs and spices that give the foods we eat a little extra zing. More and more, though, I live to regret my exuberant excesses of culinary freedom.

In like manner, my skin is less tolerant of heavily scented lotions, soaps, shampoos, and laundry products. I find myself shopping for “free and clear” or “sensitive” labels.

Shopping with my granddaughter is always an adventure. At fourteen, she is obsessed with the scent and constantly pressing a candle, perfume, or lotion under my nose. “Smell this one, Grandma!” My senses quickly fall into overload territory, and I have to back off a bit.

However, when I’m back at home and breathe in a generous whiff of lilac fragrance, I’m likely to feel some heavy-duty sinus pressure as a result of my indulgence. It’s worth it though…lilacs only bloom once a year and for a very short time so I’ll just have to bite the bullet

A myriad of scents tickle our noses every day. The scent of spring rain in our Ozark hills or salt water on the beach. A newborn baby all washed and clean, the scent of children at play, earthy and slightly rank. At special times there’s the tantalizing smell of traditional holiday foods, greenery on the mantle, the celebratory gunpowder cloud following a gigantic display of fireworks. There are scents that provide warning like smoke that tells us fire is nearby or the spray of a skunk that simply says it’s time to leave. That same sweet-smelling newborn baby can create a terrible odor indicating a diaper change is needed.

Life is an adventure of scents, both good and not-so-good. And we all like a little spice or perfume in our days, like the lively “discussions” that arise when family gets together or the reward of friendships that endure the test of time. Even the offensive fragrances in our lives help to guide us.

I’ve lately been fascinated by the placement of words like fragrance and aroma in the Bible.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3

Each of the four Gospels relates a short story about a woman anointing Jesus’ body with a very expensive oil shortly before his death on the cross. There are disagreements and controversies among theologians regarding the identity of the woman and her station in life but I like the way John expresses the act as a sweet tribute to a man who brought nothing but goodness to everyone he met.

If we’d watched the road signs carefully from the beginning of Jesus’ life until the end. If we’d had faith in their validity, we would have known, when the Wise Men brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus, spices that honored a king but would also mask the decomposition of human tissues and, some thirty-three years later, when a woman anointed the man called Jesus with precious oil just days before he hung on a cross, that his death would be something extraordinary. But, as humans, we couldn’t see the Divine side of Jesus. He was our close and very human friend and, in our humanness, we assumed that death would be the end of the relationship.

What a blessing to be wrong! Jesus is not dead…he’s very much alive and though he sits beside his Father in heaven, he is also right here, in the midst of our gritty lives and understanding every bit of it because he lived it. In Jesus, we have a dear friend we can trust to always be there and we should be raining down his fragrance from the mountaintops.