Justin Appel

Dear friends,

Today is the commemoration of the great 15th-century Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev. Even though this would be a natural opportunity to talk about icons -- a wonderful and important topic -- I was gripped by the Epistle reading for this feast, particularly by the vivid metaphor St. Paul uses in his letter to the Corinthian church.

Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 here.

This picture fascinates me. St. Paul describes our function as that of spreading the fragrance that results from knowing God. Christ works in us to infuse the world with the sweet aroma of God.

The beauty of these ideas and their phraseology make sense to me, perhaps, because I have experienced incense in worship, both at church and in the home. In fact, the correspondences between experience and text are by no means simple in this regard, but multivalent and richly so. Incense, to begin, is entirely redolent of the other. When I smell it at home, I am immediately and powerfully connected to my experiences in church, and to the whole heavenly reality that occurs in the liturgy. I know that I am in the presence of God and of the saints, and that as the eternal liturgy proceeds, I am caught up in its sublime movement. Just a tangibly as the sense of otherness permeates my being, incense also opens up a perception of presence or nearness. 'Let my prayer arise before you as incense' says the evening psalm, and as the fragrant smoke ascends I am aware that God hears my prayers, reads my thoughts, and is fully conscious of my being. I am seen, accepted, loved, and being transformed by the One who is there with me.

St. Paul's teaching that we are, in effect, like incense makes deep sense to me. It means I'm supposed to be the sort of person who spreads my experience -- that of knowing God -- to every place I go. That sweet smoke billows and floats and permeates: it finds its way into the nostrils of anyone in the vicinity, whether they like it or not! The same is true when we embody the peace of God, the same peace we come to know in God's presence, as we stand before him in sincerity. Everyone around us will feel that peace and many will desire it for themselves too. This is natural and good because they should sense Christ in us as the Originator of that peace, as the Presence to which we are oriented, as the Object of our style of living, and as the very Source of our life: 'For we are the aroma of Christ.'

Yours,
Justin