Blog: Smell of the stable
Text: Liisa Lilvanen-Pelkonen
Translation: Sirkka-Liisa Leinonen
One evening I was driving home from work. Once a week I need to drive about 50 kilometers to work, and I often listen to audio books on my way. I was already a bit tired. For some reason I wiped my cheek with my glove and was roused by the smell. For me it is a good smell, though some people might not like it. I had accidentally taken a pair of gloves that I usually wear while working outdoors and taking care of the animals. The gloves smelled of sheep. I simply had to have another sniff.
When I scratch and hug my sheep, I often tell them that they smell so good. I do not know why I like that smell so much. Maybe my ”taste” in matters of smell is different from that of other people.
I remember from my childhood one time when I had gone for a walk with my mother and sister. I was about four years old and was pushing a kicksled. My mother was pulling my sister in a plastic sledge. We went past a farm, and my mother was bothered by the smell. I was surprised because I found the smell very good.
I have sometimes been a bit ashamed to say that I feel good when our neighbor spreads cattle manure on the fields, it is spring, and I am at home. Other people, however, see nothing enjoyable in that. I guess no smell is good or bad in itself. Smells are always associated with things that define their quality.
I remembered this while driving home that evening, and I also remembered the reference to the smell of the stable. We can ”smell” the stable in another believer, even though we do not yet know that they are believing. That ”smell” helps us identify other believers, although many people find it strange and bad, even despicable. Although this ”smell” is symbolic, it is real in the sense that Jesus was born in modest conditions in a stable. That is where the saying comes from.
Although people of this world sometimes despise believers, it feels good and comforting to unexpectedly detect the smell of the stable in an unknown person. It suffices to exchange a few words, if even that, to realize that we have the same faith and understanding.
Jeesus sanoo: ”Minä annan teille uuden käskyn: rakastakaa toisianne! Niin kuin minä olen rakastanut teitä, rakastakaa tekin toinen toistanne.” Joh. 13:34
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