“Some people’s mothers told them not to talk about religion and politics in public,” says Lauren Winner, Author, Episcopal Priest, and Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School. “Well, I grew up in a family where we talked about politics all the time, and my mother told me not to talk about religion or smell in public. Talking about smell, she said, was fundamentally declassee and might make people think about feet. As a preacher, and a divinity school professor, I’ve generally found it hard to avoid talking about religion in public, but I usually manage the other half of mom’s dictum. And then you get to the middle of the Gospel of John (11:1-12:8) and it’s kind of hard to avoid the topic of olfaction. So, today’s sermon is about smell. And actually, in its way, it is also about feet. So, apologies to my mother who I know is rolling over in her urn…”
Manuscript available: click HERE