the smell of prayer

They say smell is the sense that the most strongly triggers memory and emotion. I think they're right. Intentional or not, people and places have scents: old books, cut wood, a perfume, household chemicals, they can all evoke a state of mind.

I wonder if that's how the incense in the Holy Place worked. If you walked into the Holy Place, straight in front of you, right in front of the thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, sat the altar of incense, a relatively small golden box that the incense was burned upon.

And the incense was a special blend; we can't know for certain the exact identity of the ingredients referenced, other than frankincense, which even today is produced in great quantities in the region. The priest was to light the incense each morning and each evening, so the smell would have permeated the tent. What did it smell like? Not like a VW bus full of hippies, I hope. But likely woodsy, spicy, sweet.

Of the three items in the Holy Place, I have to admit, incense is the one that I don't quite get. I get it intellectually -- I know that incense represents prayer -- but there is a portion of this symbol, of its function in the Holy Place, that I'm still trying to understand, maybe even experience.

Prayer is being in God's presence. It is the process of getting me and God in the same room and getting us on the same page about something. I say my things, He says His things and when I've really prayed, when I've really sat down with God and talked and listened, it isn't much different than a human interaction. I understand Him, and I feel understood by Him.

But its not always like that. I guess sometimes my prayers feel more like the burning incense looks...eminating with strength and then vaninishing into the air before it even reaches the ceiling.

And maybe that's where the picture of incense becomes insightful, at least in part. The smoke would vanish from the burning of the incense, but the scent wouldn't have. It would have filled the tent. The prayers would be there, evidence of the offering would be present, even if it isn't seen.

There's a lot more to it, I'm sure. But for now, that's where I can start.