The Smells and Bells

Frank was reading a blog that has become part of his daily readings, and the phrase, "the smells and bells of Christmas" was used. What the writer was writing of, as he is a Lutheran Pastor, was the different choices available for the worship services associated with the Christmas holiday. The writer elaborated on the use, or non-use of incense, the use of different music, instruments and choir participation, the use of different service orders, etc

After reading through the blog, Frank continued to come back to the phrase, "the smells and bells of Christmas." How strong that is. Think about it, how many memories do each of us hold that are immediately triggered when we smell a certain aroma or hear a certain sound? This concept is especially abundant for Frank this time of the year, during that stretch of time that spans from Thanksgiving to New Year's day.

Some of the smells that will trigger fond memories for Frank are of course the usual ones...the smell of cookies baking, or turkeys coming out of the oven. Perhaps a candle burning or the smell of pine needles and cones. Frank remembers with fondness the smell of freshly baked fruit cakes coming from the oven of his step-grandmother. The powerful aroma as the cheesecloth was removed from the finished products, some spiced with rum, some not. That was the way she insisted, as she knew some of her prized family didn't care for the rum-spiced treat.

The smell of baking sugar cookies is another that instantly transports Frank to a different time and place..the time he and Allison, then only 4, decided to bake sugar cookies for Christmas while Mom worked...from scratch. After several attempts at getting all the right ingredients from the store, finding just the right baking utensils, pans and cookie cutters, the cookies were done. The cookies may not have looked like the picture in the cookbook; so what if Allison was covered from head to toe with flour and icing?...the memory was there, never to be erased.

Another memory that involves smell is the scent of burning wood. This doesn't necessarily have to do with the Christmas season, but more a feeling of security Frank had as a youngster growing up in his parents' home. Even though the house was well-equipped with electric heat, and later a gas unit, Frank's dad also had installed a wood stove in the basement. Frank always took comfort in the fact that his dad had taken the extra steps to keep his family warm. Later, the wood stove was removed and replaced by a full-fledged fireplace, and Frank remembers sitting in front of that fireplace as a teen and young adult, and finding a degree of security as the logs burned.


The sense of sound brings just a many memories and warm feelings to Frank as those aromas do. No one can deny the spine-tingling rendition of O Holy Night by an alto or soprano soloist, whether in a performance or during a Christmas Eve worship service. One of Frank's favorite groups, Mannheim Steamroller does a wonderful rendition of this classic, and each time Frank hears the performance, a sense of wonder and awe is felt. Or perhaps the quiet singing of the classic hymn Silent Night...Frank instantly finds himself in a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, marveling at how several small lit candles are able to more than adequately light the inside of a darkened church sanctuary.

Other memorable sounds include the bustle of shoppers in the malls. Frank and Allison were fortunate enough to spend the morning and early afternoon shopping in two of Nashville's malls on Saturday. As they wandered the malls looking for those perfect gifts, Frank was taken by the sound of hurried shoppers, their conversations and laughter, as they rushed to meet the deadline of Christmas Eve. Frank remembers shopping with his own parents in the "new mall" in Clarksville so many years ago, and the excitement of searching for that one certain item for that special someone.

The sound of snow. There is none. Have you ever stood outdoors, perhaps in the yard, or in a field, or even in the woods during a snowfall? Frank remembers the first time this was pointed out to him what seems like so many years ago. He couldn't have been no more than 10 or 11 at the time.

While in church one Sunday morning, an unexpected snowfall had begun. After service, while he and his dad were walking to the family car in the falling snow the elder Luppe commented, "Hear that?"

"What," replied Frank, "I don't hear anything."
"That's just it...nothing. The most peaceful sound on earth is a snowfall."
Of course, in Tennessee, we don't have the luxury of abundant snowfalls like our neighbors to the north. Which, come to think of it, makes a snowfall all the more special. And a white Christmas, now that's something really wonderful...at least in Tennessee.

Who can deny the memories that come rushing in as the sounds of the gifts being opened or the solemn prayer being said as the family gathers for those meals? As the prayer is said around the table this year when Frank's and Tammy's families gather in their Pleasant View home, Frank will undoubtedly remember Christmas' past. When others sat around those tables in other homes, other loved ones said those words of blessing and thankgiving, others perhaps gone but not forgotten, felt the love of family. Others still that, for whatever reason, are not here this year...they will be remembered.

So, as the sounds of "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" continue to sound and the smells of the season continue to ruminate, Frank and Tammy and Allison and Kendall...all, wish you and yours the most blessed of Christmases and the happiest and most prosperous of new year's.