The Starbucks Chronicles: I Smell Funny

Lately I find that all of my hoodies and jackets have a very….distinct aroma about them. Every time I put one on, no matter where I go, or which hoodie I choose, the same smell greets me. I think it may be because of the places I frequent most often…or perhaps its just the way I smell now…being that I not only am surrounded at these places by this scent, but the source from which the scent exudes, I also put into my body…I feel like my good buddy Zach Sanchez explains this recent aroma-phenomenon well in his poem, “My Lifelong Love”:

An aroma beckons me like the song of angels from the heavens
A vision of pure seduction, dark velvet, smooth and truly dreamy
A touch so hot it’s almost intrusive, but oh so desirable
The thought, the desire, the crave, the addiction needing satisfaction
I hold a pleasurable prison almost painful in perfection
I cannot go on without, without finding myself going crazy
I find myself going crazy because I cannot go on without
What a delicious, wonderful, terrifying substance this coffee is



So I like coffee. And I go to Starbucks quite often. What can I say? I drink so much coffee that if you cut me I swear I’d bleed the Christmas Blend. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or if I’m pitiful…either way, coffee is what I smell like. I don’t know, perhaps it’s the taste. Maybe it’s the smell…or it may even be the general atmosphere of a coffee shop. Everyone there is so cool and trendy--beanie wearing, flannel-sporting, book-reading, music-listening people frequent the place…and the paintings on the walls are…trendy as well. The dim lights, the warm feel, the pleasant smell, all surround the place and make me happy. So I go there a lot.

However, something pretty amazing has been happening ever since I’ve moved back to Albuquerque and started religiously going to Starbucks to read my bible…people have come up to me and talked to me about Jesus more than ever. I’ve talked to believers, atheists, agnostics, confused people that think they know Christianity, Wiccans, and the list goes on.
Actually, the Wiccan lady was probably the most interesting…she asked me what I was reading--the words “Holy Bible” must not have given it away--or maybe she was just trying to get conversation out of me…either way I told her I was reading God’s Word. She told me that she thought any old manuscript held value and was timeless…and I simply agreed that with the Bible this was most definitely true, and that its wisdom can be read time and again because it is we that change not the Bible…and also, its God’s word…to which she told me that she wasn’t a Christian, but she did agree that it was us who changed, not the text. Naturally, my next question was, “Well…can I ask, what are you then?” And without missing a beat she told me she was a witch.

Now…normally people avoid being called a witch, and I think perhaps she wanted to see my reaction by saying something so blatantly, but luckily I didn’t even react, except to say, “Oh. That’s cool.” I mean, seriously…what are you supposed to say to that? She told me that my beliefs and her beliefs were the same…I smiled, but on the inside I was saying “Nuh-uh!”. She said that Wiccans worship the feminine aspects of God and nature and that its all about, “the feel and the magic of everything.” And I couldn’t help but think of Romans 1:25:

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather that the Creator--who is forever praised, Amen.”

So, while she was talking I was trying to sneakily turn to Colossians 1, because there it just talks about all the created things were made through, by, and for Christ, and that I didn’t see the point of bypassing the Creator for created things…thus worshiping nature and, “the magic” seemed silly….but my bible-turning was less than ninja-like and she told me that she had to go. Of course. I bid her a good day, (how British of me) and then told her we should talk again later.

But it got me wondering why people were so suddenly interested in talking to me. It just seemed curious to me that almost every time I go into Starbucks to read, that someone asks me what I’m reading, or what I think about this or that….and I read this passage the other day, and it hit me:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” ~2 Corinthians 2:14-16

I read that and realized that just like my hoodie smells like coffee because of the ridiculous amount of time I spend in Starbucks, that I smell like Jesus the more time I spend with Him. And people notice. Just like when I smell cookies I go to the kitchen to investigate. Or when someone smells death they go to see where its coming from. I smell like Jesus. So I’m going to continue to go to Starbucks to read my bible, and try to update on the adventures I have there. They shall be called, “The Starbucks Chronicles”. And I hope that I go so much that they become familiar with the smell. And now, whenever I put on my hoodie and smell coffee I can smile and know that I smell like Jesus.