I recently spent the weekend with my son and daughter-in-love back in Kentucky. On Sunday, we went to the Greek Orthodox Church that they attend. I’ve traveled a lot and had the opportunity to visit many Orthodox churches, and I’m always struck by how intentional everything is. The images, the overhead lights, the altar space, the vestments of the priest and those assisting in the service…everything has a purpose.
My first impression entering most Orthodox Churches is how dark they are. Most of the churches I have visited have been very old, which probably explains the darker vibe in the space. But this church in Lexington was breathtakingly light and bright. The sun shone everywhere. The walls were spectacularly white, and everything seemed almost to glow. It was warm and inviting and carried a feeling of purity…of a heavenly holiness.
As I settled in for a service vastly different from what I am used to, the priest came out, took an incense burner, and “smoked” the room (I don’t think that’s the official term). The burner swung in his hand, and the smokey incense began to fill the space. The light from the windows seemed to reach out and grab the smoke. The room itself seemed to envelop the fragrance as all three (light, smoke, and scent) wafted up toward the peak of the building, rising as if to heaven’s outer court.
I have long loved the smells and bells of the Church’s ancient traditions. They capture all of me in an instant, and they invite every single part of me to enter into worship. I regularly light a small tea candle over incense in my office – it settles me and directs me to the holiness I can easily overlook. I chucked to myself in the orthodox pew that so many modern churches embrace the same sort of ancient incense practice with their use of smoke machines. Smells and bells in traditional and contemporary—who’d-a-thought?!
When I light my incense, I don’t just do it for the aroma. I do it because I want to be grounded in something bigger than me…or my current situation. I light an oil lamp when I go into staff or church meetings to remind me that I’m in the presence of the Light of the World. I will often take anointing oil and rub it on my hands as a reminder that I carry the scent of Christ as I prepare to preach on Sunday mornings. I have a friend who enters the shower daily, praying that the water will remind him of his baptism and his place in God’s church.
I need these kind of “jogs” to my senses at regular times, so it shouldn’t really surprise me how much I need them right now. With less than 2 weeks until my country has an election, I feel desperate for something to lift me and change my atmosphere. I made the mistake of logging onto X (formerly Twitter) yesterday, and the amount of political insanity was soul-crushing. I could physically feel myself shrink and sink. My heart tightened. My neck began to ache. My eyes started blurring. It was awful.
And as I peeled myself away from the ugliness, my soul whispered to me that it needed a break. My dear friend and mentor, Jorge Acevedo, regularly asks me how it is with my soul and if I’m committed to my spiritual disciplines. After I answer, he often adds, “Ok, now, when was the last time you heard the whisper of Jesus to your soul?” He knows that I can do the work and still miss out on the reason I took up the disciplines in the first place.
And so, this afternoon, I sit in my office and know that slowing down with a candle and a bit of incense is a way for my soul to listen. It’s a way for my body, racing to and fro, to “be still and know.” It’s a way for a ragged mind, frustrated and exhausted by all the politics and ugly games that devour, to be redirected to the sovereign One’s grace.
To my American friends, can I invite you, these last 2 weeks of the election countdown, to join me in taking time to seek out His whisper? We’re not meant to consume as much as we do, and election consumption is disastrous to our health. Could we find a moment or two of quiet redirection to Jesus to give us a much-needed purge? Maybe we light a candle and breathe for a few minutes? Or turn off the ambient crushing noise and allow our souls to catch up to minds and bodies racing at breakneck speed? Could we take a deep breath when our breath seems shortened by political panic? Could we take a second to let the whisper of God lift us up and enliven us again?
Paul’s words to Pastor Titus have felt important in my recent still moments:
Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.” (Titus 3:1-2).
The election isn’t something we can ignore. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. We need to vote and be engaged in the issues. But I want to do so in a spirit that has me pray for discernment as I lift those who believe they are to run for office. I can’t pray for either presidential candidate until I spend time with the whisper of God. I certainly can’t avoid quarreling or seek out gentleness or humility without His nearness.
So, what would a moment of being saturated in God’s nearness look like for you? Maybe you’re not a candle person, but you can still be still and let the other visuals or scents draw your attention to the life-giver. Maybe sitting down and being quiet terrifies you, so go for a walk and listen to the whisper. He’s out there. He’s here now. Let’s turn off the other stuff and turn into letting him fill and restore us.