But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God, discernible both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. – 2 Corinthians 2:15
Somewhere around my birthday, every year since we first came to North Carolina, Rebekah takes me to Logan’s Supply Company and helps me pick out herbs for the garden she will plant for me in a series of inviting flower pots on the deck right off the kitchen.
It’s a wonderful gift, placing live herbs right there, a step or two away when I am cooking. It’s not just the beauty and the fragrance but the freshness and the added sense of imagination it gives my ongoing explorations in cooking.
Painting with new colors:
It’s like giving a new palette of colors to a artist, replacing dry cracked color tablets with vibrant, rich acrylics. Fresh textures and hues. New inspirations and ways to make the work “pop.”
So we wandered around the magical collection of garden possibilities that is Logan’s, and finally landed at the herb section, fragrant and inviting.
I had a holiday filling my cart. Basil, Oregano, Sage, Parsley, Thyme (German and Lemon), Mint, Rosemary, and – a new one for me – the invitingly aromatic Summer Savory.
Church that is Alive:
Oh, here’s one more analogy. The difference to my kitchen made by fresh, fragrant, living herbs reminds me of walking into our church on Sunday morning and reveling in the life there because neither the preacher nor the people are dried, shelved, bottled, contained, or washed out.
If your experience of “church” is dried up and washed out, then you need to ask Jesus to reanimate The Body with authentic, fragrant, vibrant life.
Fresh. Aromatic. Inviting. Alive. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God, discernible both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Here’s the gallery:
Derek Maul: Words, Photographs, and Food for the Journey 