A Note From Tom: November 30th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
And welcome to the Christmas season! As the song says, "It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!" Those aren't exactly the right words, but it is true!
When you have the Salvation Army bucket dude ringing beside the Christmas trees for sale, that's when Christmas smells are like Christmas bells! They're everywhere! (Except that one goes in your ear and the other up your nose!)
Scientists tell us that smells bring back memories of Christmases past quicker than the Grinch, Charlie Brown's tree, or a crooning' Bing Crosby…And it's kinda unexpected since Christmas sights arrive at the speed of light and Christmas carols at the speed of sound, but Christmas smells poke along at the speed of the breeze!
But it turns out that when Christmas smells go up your nose (kinda like Santa up the chimney), they stick to the 20 million receptors in the olfactory epithelium, waiting about three inches up there in the dark. Blood hounds have 220 million! That's why their noses are so long! ( But they're uglier than we are so, it's a trade-off).
Snuggled up in there, is your omygdala, which is the place in your brain where emotions live. In the neighborhood nearby is your hippocampus, which is basically "Memory Lane". As soon as a molecule of cheddar cheese, or Gouda cheese, or "Say-excuse-me-pleese"…or Cheese Puff, or cheese cake or Cheese Whiz "hits the spot", nasally speaking, the olfactory stands up and says, "Do we know you?" And the hippocampus asked, "Are we happy or sad about this? I'm trying to remember…" And in an instant you're crying over something' that happened in Miss Pippins second grade class and you don't know why!
Our dad used to get us boys to sneak down into the woods of the Green Belt and climb 20 feet up the pine trees, where we'd cut off the top seven feet of them and drag 'em home for our family Christmas tree. Apparently it's a federal crime. I didn't know it at the time, but I figured it was a covert operation and there was a reason why we were supposed to talk, chop, and saw…"quietly". So, the other day, I walked into the Young Life office. It was filled with garlands and wreaths and Christmas evergreen smells. For a minute, I wondered why I began to sweat, hyperventilate and feel a panic-attack comin' on!
Ahhh! Christmas memories! I can just smell 'em!
Nutmeg is apparently one of the strongest Christmas smells. It's in Christmas cookies, Christmas egg-nog and Granny's Santa Lucia Christmas Stollen braid. All kinds of wars were fought in history over the nutmeg trade. Apparently in the 1660's, the Dutch traded Manhattan to the British for one of the Spice Island that had tons of nutmeg! Seems that nutmeg has a property in it that produces "feelings of well-being". That's why it's in all the Christmas goodies…It's pretty cool that there's a spice that helps you gain 37 pounds in three weeks…and feel good about it!
I love how the New Testament talks about smells!
The Christmas story doesn't specifically mention them, but think about it…With the donkey, stalls, sheep, stinky shepherds, and frankincense, there must have been a lot of 'em!
In one place, Paul says that we smell to our Father in Heaven, just like Jesus! You're a Christmas smell to Him!
"…through us He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God…" (2 Corinthians 2:14 and 15)
This Christmas…
...when you give yourself in love to someone who needs His love…
…when your heart breaks for someone who is alone, hungry, or struggling…
…when you whisper a name to His throne, because someone isn't making it without Him…
…it smells like Jesus!
It smells like Christmas!
We tied 157 cards to a Christmas tree in the Triple C lobby a couple of weeks ago…30 bucks each…"Buy an orphan who lives in Victor's home and goes to their school in India, his or her school clothes for a year. Or buy three widows their yearly dress. All for $30…"
I wondered…Or maybe I doubted…"Will we do this? Can we do this? Will Victor kids and widows have anything to wear?…"
Last Sunday afternoon, a UT student drove into OR. He listens to the C3 podcast and had heard about our tree. He wanted to pay for four cards…
and it just so happened that…folks were decorating for Christmas around 3:00 when he arrived!
And it just so happened that...there were only four cards left on the tree!
Because it just so happened that…y'all had already taken ALL THE REST!!!
AHHHH!!!! Christmas!!!
I love how it smells!!