Magnolia blossoms and honeysuckle blooms almost immediately take me back to my childhood. For just a moment I can smell their sweet fragrance in my head. My neighbors had a beautiful magnolia tree in their yard and on our way to the creek behind their house the smell of that flower would follow us. I would stop each time to take it in. I had never smelled anything so lovely.

Have you ever thought how the sense of smell has so much value in our life? I mean it brings back so many memories to us. Would life be quite as rich without it?

I can’t imagine having to give up my sense of smell. Did you know that a recent study at Rockefeller University states that our noses are far more sensitive than we ever thought?  According to the study, researchers determined that we can actually detect more than one-trillion smells. That’s a lot of memories!

What are some of the fragrances that you recall? What meaning do they have to you? Here are a few of my life memories:
The sweet honeysuckle has a beautiful smell and also has a sweet taste. I spent many a day in the summer sipping on a honeysuckle.
Something I never drank, and still do not, is coffee. For someone who doesn’t drink it I love to smell it and it forever reminds me of being at home with my mom and dad and the percolator every morning. I woke up every morning to that wonderful smell.
I have always been afraid of shots. My brother and I would go to great lengths as children to avoid them. The smell of alcohol still to this day brings back that fear of the needle. I think I have anxiety attacks just thinking of it.
One of the worst smells is the smell of a skunk. But for me I relate it to my times on the road in the bus. We were always hitting a skunk but the smell does not bring up bad memories but rather good times spent with friends and family. And everyone on the bus hollering out “Skunk!”

 

The power of scent turns each breath that we take into a puff of the world that’s ours alone. It’s personal to our memory and to our stories.

We can choose each day how we live before the Lord. What scent will we bring to Him? Will He be ashamed of us or will He be pleased with our lives? I’m praying today that the smell that I bring before the Lord is pleasing and a sweet savor to Him.

“For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish” (II Corinthians 2:14,15).
By Kelly Nelon Clark

Kelly is a monthly columnist for SGN Scoops Digital Magazine.

First published by SGN Scoops in July 2014. For current issues click on the SGN Scoops mainpage.