“Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters….
Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”
– Isaiah 43:16, 18-19a (NRSVue)
“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
– John 12:3 (NRSVue)
Activity
Is there a particular smell that you love? For example, the smell of the first raindrops hitting dry earth, the fragrance of a fresh rosebud, salty wind off the ocean, a cologne or perfume worn by a loved one—or something else entirely?
What old memories does that smell bring to mind? Can that fragrance also lead you to envision new things emerging in your life or in the world?