Our eldest son’s boxer dog, Ruby, loves coming to stay with Grandma and Grandad.
It’s not that she doesn’t like chasing around the heaths and woods of Surrey, but as far as Ruby is concerned, there is nowhere better than a beach! She lies very quietly in the back of the car during the 2-hour (if you are lucky!) journey to get here, until she gets to the Dock roundabout, then she is up on her feet and smelling the sea air with great excitement.
The sea air has been thought for many centuries, to be beneficial, especially for convalescence after illness. Those whose health was suffering were advised to take a holiday by the seaside, and indeed, we had our own convalescent home, The Bartlett, here in Felixstowe, where people were prescribed rest and recuperation after spells in hospital. The building has now been renovated into prestigious flats and apartments with a sea view, so maybe the residents know a thing or two!
The sense of smell is very evocative of place and person. Of course, some smells are not at all nice, so we try to avoid them or mask them, but some can transport us back in time and are reminiscent of a place or a person we have loved. Those who are grieving will often hold a garment belonging to their loved one as a way to remember them, and feel that they are close.
Jesus understood the power of the sense of smell. So much so, that he said the remembrance of it would last for centuries. Following criticism of those watching a woman (Mary Magdalene? Matthew 26: 6 –13) or Mary of Bethany? (John 12: 1 – 8) anoint Jesus with costly perfume, Jesus told them to leave her alone, as she had performed a good service for him in preparation for his burial. We are told that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, and that Jesus said, ‘Truly, I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her’.
So, the sense of smell can not only protect us, and please us, and evoke precious memories, but can also hold and proclaim good news.
Perhaps we need to develop a keener sense of smell, like Ruby, and get more excited about proclaiming the good news.