Department of Noticed

      Name a section of a department store that you often forget is there. You just don't go there, or maybe you only get those items from another specialty store. In this age of online shopping (which for many things, I am appreciating the efficiency!), it is hard to know where are the best places to find things. Yet, there is one department that can not go without notice. There is one that will remain clear in our minds. There is one that will by nature always be in brick and mortar stores. I am referring to the perfume department. Even through these typed words, you

remember the thick cloud of smells--some are delightful, some are too strong. You might even think of a loved one that always wore a specific perfume. Memories and emotions are often closely connected with scents. Yes, the power of fragrance. What are your favorite smells? Basil makes me think of summer. It is this power of connection that Paul writes about in today's reading.

2 Corinthians 2:12-17

When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord; but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

How does our following of Christ Jesus smell to others? The presence of God does have a smell. How do you experience it?

Prayer:

Gracious God,

May our prayer rise before you as incense, a delightful offering to your senses. Let our lives tell your story. Put heat and flame to our hearts that we would burn with passion for your Reign. Bless those that we lift before you...Let all we do and say this day be pleasing to you, O God. In your endless Name, we pray. Amen.