Beyond the Patio

The Sights, Sounds, Smells of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21

Years ago when I was taking a counseling course we had a session on “remembering the past” and we dealt with how certain things triggers a person recall of events in their personal history.  One person said that as a child his family lived in a poorer tenement building and a single light bulb hung from the ceiling of their kitchen.  His parents fought a lot and when they would get into a serious conflict, he would become filled with fear and anxiety. As their rage grew, he feared that his parents might hurt one another.  He feared that he might be hurt in one of these violent outbursts. Later, when he was married he lived in the married student’s residence at a university where he was studying. One evening he was looking at a building across the street from their residence and in one window all he could see was single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.  All the uncomfortable feelings of fear and anxiety of his childhood came rushing back.  He broke into tears and he was practically immobilized for the rest of the evening.  The events and emotions of his childhood was all brought back by seeing that single light bulb.

Sometimes it is a sound that brings the past into the present.  Every time I hear or sing the hymn “Joyful Joyful we Adore Thee” I think of my mother.  That was one of her favorite hymns and in fact a hymn that we sang at her funeral.

My wife has often said that the smell of paint brought back happy memories of home on Saturday morning. Her parents were slowly building their house doing a little more each week even after they had moved in. They often painted a room on a Saturday morning and then her mother would prepare a wonderful breakfast for them as the children rolled out of bed much later in the morning than their parents.

Certainly sights, sounds and smells often bring back vivid memories of our past. In some sense, prompted by these sense experiences, we relive these events again.

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Our worship includes a lot of sights, sounds, touch and even smells.  Many things appeal to our sight – colors, vestments, table, ornaments, symbols, stain glass windows.  The sound of music, the words of the service, the reading of scripture, the voice of the preacher call upon our sense of hearing. The touch at the passing of the peace, at communion, during a prayer for healing, the “glad hand” of the priest at the end of the service, and greeting our neighbors are experienced. The smell of the building, of incense if used, of wine, even the smell of coffee sifting through from the hall calling us to the coffee hour, often evoke in us some emotional response. These are all part of our experience of worship.

All the senses should be an intentional part of our planning of worship. On the last Pentecost service that I officiated at as Rector of St. Philips By The Sea before my retirement seventeen years go, the Leader of the Sunday School brought doves into the church as a symbol of the Spirit.  They were beautiful birds to look at but I remember most is the their sound.  I still hear them cooing during that service. It makes that celebration memorable to me.

There are some services that stir up an emotional response in me mainly because of certain sights, sounds, touch or smells. I just have to see, hear, touch or smell a certain thing and it brings that experience all back to me. For example, I just have to hear the lapping of water against the shore and I experience once again a certain service on Easter morning on the beach when the presence of Christ was recognized by those who gathered there.  It was as if Jesus had once again appeared to his followers on the seashore sharing a light breakfast of buns and coffee with us. It was an unforgettable moment.

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I was thinking of that when we read the scriptures this morning, especially the passage in the Acts of the Apostles.  This Pentecost I encourage you to try to connect with the scriptures by becoming aware of sounds, images, and even smells that are part of the story.

I purposely read over this passage three times.  First time I tried to be aware of all the images such as seeing the evidence of a wind blowing things around, the brightness of fire, people milling around with surprise and perplexity showing on their faces.  I then read it being conscious of the sound of the wind rushing in through the windows, the roar of fire, cacophony sounds of many people of talking in their various languages seeming but to understand what was being said by the Apostles. The next time it was the smells that I became aware of: The wind carrying fragrances; the smell of fire similar to a camps fire where I have enjoyed a  meaningful sense of fellowship on many occasions.  I smelled food cooking. I even was able to catch the various scents radiating from the many people gathered there that day.

I commend that practice of being aware of all your senses as you approach the stories of Pentecost today.  I believe that you will be surprised by what you experience.  The story will not be something on the outside as happening many years ago, but something taking place inside of you. The Spirit will stir in you emotions that you cannot ignore or ever forget.

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