something's burning
This past summer I spent a week with some people that would change my life forever. It was close quarters as our two families of 5 crammed into a 3-bedroom house. When I sleep I like a ceiling fan above me; so most nights I crashed on the couch in the living room. Each morning I would awake to the aroma of incense. It was really amazing. The thing that made the aroma even more beautiful is that my hosts were in the next room offering the thoughts of their hearts to the One Who listens. I was so captivated each morning by the scent of the day, knowing it was coupled with the prayers of my new friends.
This year to celebrate the dawn of a new kind of humanity, my wife gave me a gift; a small ornate incense box. Each time the smoke rises from the wooden chest, I am reminded of my friends and their care for my family as guests in their home.
This simple wooden chest being porous in nature absorbs the scent of the incense long after it has burned. Each time I walk by it I smell and I remember.
Long ago the fledging people of God were told to create an altar for the burning of incense. The incense was meant to be a symbol, a symbol for the prayers of the people rising up to the One True God. It was to be a reminder to the people. Daily burnings were central to the life of the priests attending the duties of the temple.
I wish I could carry that scent with me. I wish somehow I could be a wooden chest with the burning offering of prayers to the One I love. The peaceful solitude I find when just sitting and taking in the aroma is transcendent. No wonder the scriptures talk about the thoughts of our hearts are like a sweet, sweet smell in the nostrils of an attentive Father. How else could we connect with what it must be like when we humble ourselves and speak from the deepest most insecure part of our being to the One of Being.
May the altar of our lives burn daily with our prayers to the Most Holy One.
4 comments:
Beautiful, heartfelt words, Michael...I am speechless.
My husband likes to burn incense--we like the smell of patchoulli the best.
Michael,
You are soooo sweet! When I read this this morning it brought tears to my eyes...I'd gladly share tight quarters with your beautiful family again any day!!!
the incense we burn is Citrus Blend from our beloved Target! *sniff,sniff*
Michael -
How cool. We love to burn it here, as well, but haven't in a while - just got busy and forgot I guess.
A cool thing happened once at a service at Brownsville Assembly about 8-10 years ago, when we were there. They had a service one night with an altar of incense. We all came by the altar, picking up a handful of incense granules along the way, and dropping them onto the coals. The smell was wonderful and beautiful - I called it the smell of worship. The next night, during the middle of about the 4th or 5th song, the smell of incense that I had smelled the night before came back. Nobody was burning any, but the smell "re-appeared" during the song.
Anyway, thanks for sharing - it really reminded me of how much we enjoy incense, and brought back the memory of incense and the scent of worship.
Jeff
I, too, like the idea of association via senses. Guess we aren't the only ones:
2 Corinthians 2:15
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
There have been two times when my mom has prayed and an unexplained sweet aroma has filled the room. Pretty cool stuff.
Post a Comment