RICHES IN DARKNESS

I was walking along a nearby highway the other night, a habit of mine since I quit biking, and as a particular car went by, I suddenly sensed the fragrance of perfume.

And I was reminded of another evening when I was still riding my bicycle down the same sidewalk. After biking a mile or two, another non-descript automobile passed me, and I suddenly sensed the odor of a burning cigarette.

And each time the respective cars passed by, and I smelled the smells of perfume and cigarettes, I thought,

“I am convinced that fragrances and odors are somehow magnified at night.”

Perhaps it has to do with humidity or barometric pressure or wind, (or fill in the blank). I have no way of knowing.

But at any rate, each time I thought the thought which I have shared with you, a follow up thought filled the gap where the former one had just resided.

“I think the odor (or fragrance) I just smelled serves as a metaphor for the darkness of the soul, and the responses people express towards us when we are at our lowest ebb.”

For you see, trouble, trial, testing and turmoil seem to bring out both the best and the worst among those who surround us. Simply put, when we are experiencing the deepest, darkest moments of our lives, it is not difficult to determine who our friends are.

For it is in those moments that friends and strangers, alike exude figurative sweetness or vinegar. It in the most delicate, dire, desperate seasons of our lives that people come alongside us, or tiptoe away. It is in the darkest moments they offer the fragrance of their words, the odor of their accusations, or the dearth of their presence in our lives.

And while suffering is not pleasant at the time, we know that in some unexplainable manner God uses the deepest, darkest, most desperate of experiences for our good. And we know that He will, ultimately, offer us perfume instead of mildew, and that He will surround us with the fragrance of His lingering presence.

by William McDonald, PhD