大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon.

Good morning.

Spring brings sunshine and flowers, and quite a few showers also. My childhood memories of the Caribbean are redolent with the sound of rain on tin roofs, and also the smell that precedes the imminence of rain, and the smell that follows a rain shower. As a child, I did not know that the smell of rain has a name, petrichor, which describes its earthy odour. To me it鈥檚 a very similar smell to that of morning dew on wet grass. These smells speak to me in ways that belie the power of words.

Almost everyone who can smell, can connect different scents with different people and stages of their lives. Perhaps the aroma of a special person鈥檚 perfume or aftershave, celebratory foods or sweets, the box that held a new toy or game. Smell can elicit our earliest memories and remind us of beloved people and places, and things we treasure.

The sense of smell is critical to our health and wellbeing, since time immemorial, essential oils from flowers, herbs, or the sap or bark of trees have been used in healing practices to improve physical and emotional well-being. That may be part of the reason why during the recent pandemic, the sale of scented candles went through the roof. And yet catching the COVID19 virus caused many people to suffer a temporary loss of smell.

Our sense of smell can also trigger sorrow, and for some people lilies smell of mourning. In some Christian traditions lilies are placed at the foot of the cross on Good Friday.

Creator God, help us remember how interconnected we are with our environment and give us wisdom to care for it well.

Amen