Remember

 August 10, 2022

As the sky slowly darkens, the deck lights are on, the air is still,  the birds are singing their lullabies in the trees, and a couple mosquito coils are smoldering beside me as I sit. This morning my son posted a video devotional in which he was looking through a pile of letters he had received from those who had accompanied him on what up until Covid hit, had been an annual mission trip to New York City. 

He was remembering, and urging us to do the same; to remember the faithfulness of God in good times and bad. So that’s what I’m doing as I sit here tonight.

The friends we visited in Virginia a few weeks ago had on their front porch an electronic mosquito killer. It had a cartridge of some sort that when it was turned on emitted some sort of vapor guaranteed to keep mosquitos at about a fifteen foot radius. It seemed to work, as we sat on the porch in the evenings unbothered by the pesky little critters. So before we came home, I bought one for our outdoor evenings.

Tonight, it sits on the counter in the kitchen while the old-fashioned coils put forth their faint, smudgy wisps of smoke. I’m remembering. The first time I bought those coils was on one of our family vacations in Canada. THEY have mosquitos, and in the evenings, one of those coils was constantly burning in an ashtray in the cabin, giving off their distinctive aroma that fills my nostrils tonight, causing me to remember, and give thanks for such times of relaxation and soul-filling moments with the kids and grandkids.

They say that the sense of smell can resurrect memories better than anything else, and I believe it. Last week, the village laid down some fresh oil and stone on the road going up the hill by our house. I walked down the road, and seeing the fresh oil and tar in bubbles on the surface of the road took me back more than sixty years to hot summer days and the smell of new asphalt with bubbles we deliberately popped as we walked the streets. And on occasional spring mornings, the aromas in the air instantly transport me back sixty years to the sidewalk leading to the front steps of Westside Baptist Church as I made my way towards the front steps, Bible in hand.

I suspect one of the reasons God directed his priests to make a special incense for temple worship, the formula of which was not to be used for any other purpose, is its ability to instantly take us to a different time and place. With all the good Protestantism brought the world with its emphasis on the preaching of God’s Word, one of the casualties of it was the abandoning of the use of incense in worship. 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; 

And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, 

And forget not all His benefits: 

—Psalm 103:1 & 2

The writer goes on to list those benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness and tender mercies… So tonight, those mosquito coils bring back memories, satisfying the soul as I sit in backyard wonder and worship.