#504 Nosey Ghost

Sometimes when I think the world can’t get any crazier I look at the news and get my notion slapped down like a peeing puppy in the pantry. Oftentimes hyper-proclaiming Christians rail about how secular our society has become. Which is basically 75% of our populace screaming about how their religion is under attack from the other 25%. But maybe they need to look within their own ranks as well. Something, as they say, smells. And it ain’t just a leftover Lazarus.
Seems a California perfume company has come up with a biblically inspired fragrance. It’s called “Virtue.” It’s supposedly based on scriptural research and includes notes of frankincense, myrrh and apricot. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a sport version that includes olives and fish? Kind of a post-workout biblical buffet. The company says that “Virtue” will allow the wearer, in their words, “to smell like Christ and many of the saints.” Notice they only say many. John the Baptist, who lived in the desert and ate only locusts, probably reeked to high heaven. So I’m guessing his scent will be bottled for use in the biblical pest control aisle. The CEO of the company says he named the perfume “Virtue” because “…many individuals of high spiritual attainment give off a fragrance attributed to their virtue.” So I’m guessing we won’t be seeing Jim and Tammy Baker knockoff scents. Or a Jimmy Swaggert travel hotel size.
Myrrh, by the way, was a heavy scent used to disguise the smell of rotting corpses. Burial was neither quick nor cheap in ancient Judea. And myrrh helped bridge the aroma gap between tomb emplacement and mummification. Frankincense is one of those scents you can’t be too careful with. Bride of Frankincense is even worse.
I’m not entirely sure why someone supposedly bottling the essence of Jesus is so disturbing to me. But I think it somehow fits under the idolatry injunction. No graven images and no smell worship. Behaving like Christ is a good thing. Using him as a cologne? Not so good. Hmm. Maybe Curt Cobain will write a new song in Rock and Roll heaven. Smells like Holy Spirit.
America, ya gotta love it