Smoke...and the aroma of grace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After leaving my wife at the bus station today in Concord, NH, the drive back to the camp where I'm speaking has me thinking about change. \u00a0My youngest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smoke...and the aroma of grace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After leaving my wife at the bus station today in Concord, NH, the drive back to the camp where I'm speaking has me thinking about change. \u00a0My youngest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-16T20:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/files\/2011\/08\/P1040340-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/\",\"name\":\"Smoke...and the aroma of grace\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-16T20:32:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-16T20:32:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"After leaving my wife at the bus station today in Concord, NH, the drive back to the camp where I'm speaking has me thinking about change. \u00a0My youngest\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Smoke…and the aroma of grace\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. 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{"id":1549,"date":"2011-08-16T13:32:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T20:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richarddahlstrom.com\/?p=1549"},"modified":"2011-08-16T13:32:56","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T20:32:56","slug":"smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2011\/08\/16\/smoke-and-the-aroma-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoke…and the aroma of grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

After leaving my wife at the bus station today in Concord, NH, the drive back to the camp where I\u2019m speaking<\/a> has me thinking about change. \u00a0My youngest daughter will soon be arriving home from a summer in Rwanda<\/a>, changed utterly. \u00a0In a few short months both she and my wife will graduate from Seattle Pacific University, and this will mark the end of college careers (at the very least, for the time being) for our whole family. \u00a0Change. \u00a0The church I lead is moving into a new season in a few short weeks, one in which we\u2019re casting vision that we pray will strengthen our focus on being a healthy community that represents Christ heart with clarity. \u00a0This too will call for change.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, all around us, our culture and world are changing: markets, marriages, housing prices, droughts, wars, the state of our own human bodies \u2013 nothing is static. \u00a0I ponder that soon the young adults who have served so faithfully these past 9 weeks for Home Improvement Ministries <\/a>will be scattering. \u00a0Bonded for a season, they\u2019ll go their own ways on Friday, as will I, each of us heading into a future that will undoubtedly offer unforeseen joys and sorrows.<\/p>\n

This changing world<\/em><\/strong>. It sometimes feels like we\u2019re on a journey without a map because we\u2019ve no idea what will be around the next corner. \u00a0It\u2019s enough to make some people numb themselves with coping mechanisms ranging from too much shopping to too much drink, or food, or sleep, or work. \u00a0Of course, all this robs us of the present moment, imprisoning us in fear and anxiety even more.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking of all this, not just generically, but particularly, with marriages strained to the breaking point, babies that are critically ill, layoff notices that have just been received. \u00a0I park the car back at camp and walk through the dripping trees, still heavy with the morning\u2019s rains. \u00a0Then it hits me:<\/p>\n

The smell of smoke.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0I see it, coming out the chimney of the rec room, where campers are slapping ping pong balls around whle they wait for the waterfront to open. \u00a0I realize that if you\u2019re a firefighter, or have fought in a war, smoke evokes a different set of emotions. \u00a0But for me, smoke is tied, almost exclusively to goodness. \u00a0It was at a campfire in 7th grade, that my heart melted in an encounter with Christ. \u00a0It was around the campfire at our mountain chalet that some of the richest nights of conversation in my life unfolded. \u00a0It was by the fireplace, with a real fire, that I ate a meal prepared by my mom way back in 1978 for my friend named Donna, who\u2019d gone to Yosemite with me for the day to play in the snow. \u00a0That meal, laced with smoke from the fire, set the wheels in motion for that friend to become my lifelong companion. \u00a0We built a fire on our honeymoon. \u00a0We read by the fire on snowy nights, both in the San Juan Islands when we lived there, and in the mountains.<\/p>\n

For me, smoke is the smell of grace, a reminder both of God\u2019s goodness and presence.<\/p>\n

The world has all the marks of hell at times. \u00a0And yet the Psalmist has the audacity to write, \u201cGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. \u00a0Therefore we will not fear, though the erth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, thought its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride\u2026.the Lord of hosts is with us!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Or, as Julian of Norwich said: \u00a0\u201cAll\u2019s well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well\u201d, which is simply her way of saying that God\u2019s working things out, that history\u2019s moving in the right direction. \u00a0Sometimes it doesn\u2019t appear to be true \u2013 but then we smell the smoke, or glimpse whatever sign of grace God gives us for the day (there are many). \u00a0When it hits us fully we say with the Psalmist: \u00a0\u201cWe will not fear \u2013 because God is our stronghold\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be 80 tomorrow here in New Hampshire. \u00a0The smell of smoke will be gone. \u00a0But I\u2019ve tasted it today, and named it, and rejoiced in it. \u00a0And tomorrow, I\u2019ll push my sweatshirt into my face and inhale, while I say, \u201cThank you\u201d to God.<\/p>\n

Unchanging One\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We thank you that in a world marked by instability and uncertainty, there is One who is sure. \u00a0We\u2019ve not always looked to You, seeking instead to navigate the waters of change through out wits, or religion, or strong coffee. \u00a0None of these have worked. \u00a0We need just what you offer, to \u201ccease striving and know that you are God\u201d. \u00a0Quiet our hearts, and attune our senses to the language of grace so that when your speaking, we\u2019ll hear, and turn, and be healed. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In your unchanging and life giving name\u2026. amen. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What signs of grace speak to you? \u00a0A song? \u00a0The smell of bacon cooking? \u00a0The musty smell of a cabin by a lake? \u00a0Please share\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"