le Perfumerie

During the Olympics, I took my family downtown Vancouver to catch some of the Olympic spirit that seemed to fill every nook, cranny and crevice. The crowd was impressive, assaulting all the senses – sight, sound, touch, taste, smell; especially the smells. We walked by a little Lebanese hole in the wall twice before being compelled to stop. The smell emanating from the doorway was warm and delicious, inviting us to partake. And after 20 minutes in a line, we finally had the source of the mouth-watering smell in our hands. The taste? Let’s just say the taste fell exceedingly short.

Scripture says we are the aroma, the fragrance of Christ. The fragrance of Christ isn’t a product that can bottled, sold and worn; it’s something that we are. The verb, to be. Often I have a strong temptation to act like a sweet fragrance, but when the end result is appearance or facade, I am [to others] like the disappointment we experienced when we tasted the shawarma. The Lord is good. My fragrance should be also.

There are 600 people at the conference this weekend. I see the familiar nametags everywhere I look in the hotel, nearby restaurants and I wonder do the people serving us smell and taste the goodness of the Lord? Gary once told me that the staff at the Pan Pacific Hotel dread Missions Fest weekend at the Convention Centre because the Christians that come from all over the world have an attitude of entitlement. They are demanding and cheap.

Today, for the final day of the conference, the perfume bottle stays untouched. I’m going to be a different kind of fragrance.