THE THEOLOGY OF THE NOSE [T, 12-3-24]

BEYOND WINTER: The Irrelevant Musings of An Old Man--THE THEOLOGY OF THE NOSE [T, 12-3-24]

 

Where I grew up, you had to watch your nose very carefully, or it could get you into trouble. For one thing, your nose might keep you from visiting a neighbor. The standard response when you knocked on a door was, “Come in if your nose is clean.” That’s a high bar to clear.

When you are a kid, there are so many nose requirements. You’re supposed to follow your nose. Put your nose to the grindstone. Get your nose out of the air. Keep your nose out of other people’s business. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. And, most important of all, you must not have your nose in a book!

It seemed so illogical. Who could read a book with their nose stuck in it? [When in a book, the nose is always “stuck” there.] Very difficult to read like that. I learned early, though, that one should not point out the illogic of such a demand as “Get your nose out of that book.” That got other parts of one’s anatomy into trouble.

I like the smell of books, but I never really put my nose in so that I could get the aroma. That was just a bonus attraction. It is important for different reasons not to get your nose stuck in a book these days. You might get electrocuted if you stick your nose in a Kindle. 

The real reason I followed my nose to a book was because it contained stories. Reading became the grindstone to which I put my nose. And it kept my nose out of other people’s business. If others did not read, that was their business, and no skin off my nose.

We are now in Advent, known more widely as The Christmas Shopping Season. Books are an important part of this season, for books contain stories, and Christmas is the story of Emmanuel, God with us. I hope someone gives you a book for Christmas.

It is important, though, that you not get your nose up in the air, for one does not need to read to pray. Like everyone else, God enjoys good smells, and the prayers of the righteous are like a sweet aroma in the nostrils of God. [1]

 

I learned that from getting my nose stuck in a book.

John Robert McFarland

 

1] II Corinthians 2:15.