That reminds me...

Have you ever smelled a smell that brought you instantly back to the place you were when you last smelled it? You know what I'm talking about, don't you?


You wander past the open window of a house and catch a whiff of the same laundry detergent your grandma used to use. A stranger passes by you on the street and you realize with noticeable surprise that she just so happens to be wearing your ex's perfume. You're having breakfast at the local cafe and the vase of lilacs that is perched atop the table reminds you of the one you picked for your very first childhood sweetheart. 


Some smells are familiar, even nourishing in a way, -like the scent of a babies' neck or the fragrance of your lover's hair. These are the smells that can reduce us to tears or cause our faces to ease into secret smiles. These are the smells that remind us of what once was, and what still remains. 


Other smells do the exact opposite. Other smells are repugnant, even sickening in a way, -like the smell of something rotting, or the smell of something already dead. These are the smells that can wrinkle our noses or cause our stomachs to twist in agony. These are the smells that we avoid, the smells that remind us of everything we wish we could forget. 


Like I said before, a smell has a certain transportive power. It can take you places you may or may not want to go. However, although a smell can carry with it the memory of something meaning, it is not the smell itself that is meaningful. It is the person or the thing that gives off that smell that provides it with its power. 


We all give off a certain scent.


Do you remember when you were younger, and used to trade clothes with your close friends? Do you remember that smell that always seemed to linger in the fabric long after a thorough washing? Eventually, you realized you wouldn't be able to remove it even if you tried. It would always be there because it represented the wearer. 


As believers in Christ, we can choose what kind of scent we will give off. We can choose what (or Who) we will remind people of.


"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." --2 Corinthians 2:15