Braveheart and The Scent of Love (Song 1:12-14)

You bring pleasure to me like a sweet smell…  Ex. 20:41
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thistleIf you have ever loved someone deeply, you understand what it is to long for reminders of them when apart, including smells.  Like music and art, fragrances can stir emotions, invoke memories, and keep love aflame.  Many of the stronger oils such as spikenard and myrrh are even known to affect the nerves!
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Everything on this earth is only a shadow of the true reality, however, and there are heavenly fragrances that are very real, and very powerful.  For that reason I’m sure you “catch my drift” when saying I wish I could infuse this post with perfume!  That when you read it and breathe in, you can ‘see’ with your sense of smell, a vision for our oneness in Christ and with each other in heavenly places.

Scented with Joy

While the king reclines at his table, my spikenard sends out its fragrance. Song 1:12
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We’ve been talking for some time now in the past verses about a correspondence between Solomon and the Shulamite, which I have a sense, visually, (if this song is an opera/play) are letters sent between them.  Now in the next few verses, I’m of the persuasion that these notes were scented.  First, that Solomon received a note from this woman infused with spikenard, and delivered while he was at dinner.  Knowing how potent this oil is, it’s hard to imagine the King being able to concentrate on eating after that.  Surely he wanted only to consume her!
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Interestingly there is a similar story of Jesus Christ being affected by a woman’s perfume – and spikenard no less.  Mary poured her life-savings of this costly oil all over Jesus when He too was at a dinner party.  Not only did the fragrance “fill the room,” it filled His heart.  Think about it.  There was no time for a bath after this before He went to the Cross.  When He hung there naked, abused, and misunderstood, this emanating gift of love infused into His hair and skin gave Him strength and hope.  With every painful breath He took, He breathed in the Bride.  He breathed in you and me.

For the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross.  Heb. 12:2

Scented with Suffering

A bundle of myrrh is my beloved unto me; spending the night between my breasts. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.  Son 1:13-14
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It is not without significance that the note Solomon returns back to the Shulamite is then scented with myrrh and camphire (henna blossoms).  Both of these oils speak of suffering and atonement, and are very potent as well.  Seeing she then tucks His precious, scented words between her breasts, I have to wonder if she slept much that night either?  There is a lot in this image of our oneness with Christ, and sharing dark nights of suffering together.  I hope you can relate.  There is nothing more precious than to love someone that the Lord gives you so much that it hurts.  In fact, if you don’t love others this way, you really don’t love them.

The Thistle and The Scarf

There is a close link between our sense of smell and sight.  I connected the two recently when watching the movie Braveheart for the first time. There was a beautiful scene when young William Wallace is at the burial of his beloved father, and a little girl plucks a thistle and gives it to him.  It was a prickly, common, and overlooked weed, but it was how she looked into his soul that moved me.  It was a look of trust and ‘knowing’ that not only transformed that thistle into a beautiful flower, but it transformed this boy’s life.  In that look he had something to live for, and something to die for.  When later Wallace became a man, he gave back the thistle to this girl, which he had kept and pressed.  Then at their ‘secret marriage,’ she gives him another gift – a scarf – which Wallace carries close to his heart as a reminder of her, and a motivating symbol of hope through her death, and his.
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The following is a short movie clip from Braveheart showing this imagery [Click on this link if you are reading by email].  I would invite you to go beyond just ‘seeing’ the objects, but to also ‘smell’ them.  Like the spikenard poured out on Jesus, uninhibited acts of worship and love are powerful forces that will increasingly become an impetus in the ongoing battle for the full, and free expression of Jesus Christ in the earth.  Don’t hold back.  Pour yourself out for the joy ahead – His joy.   As Wallace said, “We are all going to die. The question is how.”
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13 comments

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  1. Unbridled love is a foolish passionate human pursuit, fearful of loss. It is exclusive and selfish and the world will get out of the way for it.

    A brave-heart love is pure and authentic, fearless to invite others to participate, but the present form of this world will persecute you for it.

    I love your admonition, Pam! “Don’t hold back. Pour yourself out for the joy ahead – His joy.” I want Jesus to know that He knows me!

    1. Dear Paul, You are so right about the persecution. Love is a threat to fear. I am so thankful for the fragrance of Christ in you. It makes me feel braver.

    • vinny0 on 03/01/2014 at 8:49 pm
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    WoW ! very powerful ! You must have a Brave heart to do as you say “Don’t hold back. Pour yourself out for the joy ahead – His joy.” Because of our past hurts and the risk of Deep Love it MUST be for HIS joy . He has our hearts so we can risk it all.
    Thnx you are the sweetest fragrance ! I’m blown away :-O

    1. “He has our hearts, so we can risk it all” … I love that, Vinny. And I love you!

  2. I resonate with your comments, this may be my favorite post in this series thus far, thank you so very much for your ministry of Love.

    “I would invite you to go beyond just ‘seeing’ the objects, but to also ‘smell’ them. Like the spikenard poured out on Jesus, uninhibited acts of worship and love are powerful forces that will increasingly become an impetus in the ongoing battle for the full, and free expression of Jesus Christ in the earth.”

    “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

    1. I love that verse, Jim! Thank you for sharing it, and thank you for your love.

  3. Wow, some scents used to trigger some powerful flashbacks of my childhood rapes and abuse. But no longer! I have not had a PTSD episode in nearly 7 months. Now in HIS season of deep healing for me I am actually recapturing many memories, smells and sights from my youth. The Lord is using all of my senses to minister life to me. Thank you for this blog post Pamela. Plus Braveheart is one of my all time favorite movies. I love it when William Wallace said that those who won the wars wrote the history from their warped vantage point. This is exactly why most “church” history cannot be trusted. Those in the hierarchy promoted human hierarchies in the “church”. I have one Love and Leader and HIS name is Christ.

    1. You are so welcome, Christopher, and I appreciate you!

  4. This is beautiful. Braveheart is one of the top 3 of my favorite films Thank you so much for sharing. Your words are rich.

    1. Thank you Nischelle! It is a new favorite of mine too. :)

  5. i surely must watch Braveheart.
    i believe that the heady scent of our Lord leads us more than we know. A scent can be enticing, invigorating, calming, a warning & even distressing. It is interesting that the oil that was poured out on Him right before His death was a covering of sorts & to think that it may have brought our Jesus some comfort during that very difficult time is lovely. i wonder what it brought to mind each time he caught a whiff of it, of us. This study is bringing our Bridegroom within reach to me. ive been able for the first time to interact with Him as a Bride. It has been just the most beautiful thing! Thank you for sharing your heart & revelations with me, Pamela. You are quite an artist, painting beautiful pictures for us all.

    1. Oh Shelby, You teared me up. I love you.

  6. i love you,too! XOXO

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