Holy Smoke at a Church Called Holy Spirit
“And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”—Revelation 8:4.
I slowly rise from my seat next to the Bishop’s chair near the altar at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Gulf Shores, Alabama, as the organist plays the prelude to the closing hymn, “Lift High the Cross.” The music is uplifting, but suddenly I am transported to another place. An unusual burning smell fills the air. I look up and see two nearly straight lines of black smoke rising at least a foot above the altar, then disappearing into the air in front of the congregation.
As the acolyte in the white alb passes by me to reach for the silver processional cross, I notice that she has just extinguished the two candles on the glass altar.
This smell is unfamiliar compared with what I usually notice at the end of the service. It is an especially holy scent, accompanied by an uplifting, holy smoke stronger than incense. It is raw and attention-getting, signaling that something has happened. The few in the front rows of the congregation can see the black smoke, but the smell probably lingers only around the altar. By verse two of the hymn, as the crucifer leads the choir members in their blue cassocks and white surplices out of the church, I realize what this is all about.
The Altar Guild of Holy Spirit uses real candles, possibly beeswax, not the oil candles I am familiar with in many churches I visit. It is the smell of smoke from extinguished candle wax, and I am close enough to smell it.
I remember this scent. It lingers after a spiritual direction meeting with seekers as they depart. I light the candle at the start of a spiritual direction session to mark our meeting as holy, as we care for our souls. I extinguish the candle at the end of our time together to mark the passing of what we have shared. I know our time together as spiritual friends is holy work, just as our Eucharist on Sunday is sacred time.
The smell and the smoke tell me that whatever has happened is now being lifted up, spreading into the air around us, into our universe. The Word we shared has now moved away from the altar or our meeting place and out into the world. We can no longer see the smoke, but it is there. I experience the smell only briefly, yet it is a poignant reminder of what is happening.
The Holy Word has spread its healing blessing throughout the world, making a difference in all our wounded spaces.
Bless the Altar Guild of Holy Spirit for teaching me a little more about the movement of the Holy.
Joanna Seibert. https://www.joannaseibert.com/