Saturday night was a typical night for me....a push to finish a lesson to teach to our early morning, adult "Sunday School" class. I use the quotes because it really is more like a fun, small group of people hungry to hear and study God's Word together. I just happen to have the privilege of leading the group.
This semester I am teaching from the book of Colossians. I am such a novice. The only thing I know is that there are a lot of really smart people who write books and translate languages to make my teaching anything worth listening too. And it helps that I love to study the Word so much. But, there is something that happens every time I study that should be kept a secret for fear of complete rejection. But I am going to tell you. Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone I told you....but, I love to smell book pages. All of them. Every book I pull off my shelf.
I had an especially profound book smelling session this past Saturday though. I needed to read a certain verse in the King James Version so, I pulled down my very first, leather bound, tattered paged Bible I had ever owned. It was zipped up in a cute little case that I can still remember buying when I bought the Bible. As I unzipped the cover, I had the strongest sensation to just smell this wonderful, memory filled, marked and highlighted, delightful, prize of a book I held in my hand. And so, I ever so slowly, fanned the pages and took a strong inhale. Finally, I just laid the open pages right on my face. It was exhilarating!
Can you just smell it? If I could bottle it, I might even wear it I loved it so much.
There is a strong connection with smell and memory. That moment of exhilaration made me realize how deeply I have loved the pages of God's written Word in my life. It wasn't just the smell. It was the provocation of memories unleashed. I found myself looking up certain chapters, reading again with that moment in the past in mind and knowing why it meant so much to me. I turned page after page pondering my markings and scribbles and highlights. It was a beautiful moment in time for me.
Weird as it may be, I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on this experience for anything. But don't worry, I've tucked this memory filled Book back into it's safe, zippered cover. There it shall remain,until next time, scented.
This semester I am teaching from the book of Colossians. I am such a novice. The only thing I know is that there are a lot of really smart people who write books and translate languages to make my teaching anything worth listening too. And it helps that I love to study the Word so much. But, there is something that happens every time I study that should be kept a secret for fear of complete rejection. But I am going to tell you. Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone I told you....but, I love to smell book pages. All of them. Every book I pull off my shelf.
I had an especially profound book smelling session this past Saturday though. I needed to read a certain verse in the King James Version so, I pulled down my very first, leather bound, tattered paged Bible I had ever owned. It was zipped up in a cute little case that I can still remember buying when I bought the Bible. As I unzipped the cover, I had the strongest sensation to just smell this wonderful, memory filled, marked and highlighted, delightful, prize of a book I held in my hand. And so, I ever so slowly, fanned the pages and took a strong inhale. Finally, I just laid the open pages right on my face. It was exhilarating!
Can you just smell it? If I could bottle it, I might even wear it I loved it so much.
There is a strong connection with smell and memory. That moment of exhilaration made me realize how deeply I have loved the pages of God's written Word in my life. It wasn't just the smell. It was the provocation of memories unleashed. I found myself looking up certain chapters, reading again with that moment in the past in mind and knowing why it meant so much to me. I turned page after page pondering my markings and scribbles and highlights. It was a beautiful moment in time for me.
Weird as it may be, I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on this experience for anything. But don't worry, I've tucked this memory filled Book back into it's safe, zippered cover. There it shall remain,until next time, scented.
2 comments:
Awesome! So true, so true!
You know that I also share your strange obsession. I think Joe is a little disturbed by it, but oh well. I will say though, don't bottle it...that just makes finding that perfect smelling book a little less special. It's like Christmas, if it happened everyday it wouldn't be special.
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