November 22, 2021

“You are the children that God dearly loves. So, follow his example.Lead a life of love, just as Christ did. He loved us. He gave himself up for us. He was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIRV)

Our house smells amazing right now, as I follow in the footsteps of my grandmother and make homemade applesauce. I have the quartered and cored the apples and they are cooking in a large pot on the stove. The fragrance of cooking apples is wafting out of the kitchen and filling the house. When I finish writing I will use an old-fashioned Foley Food mill to squeeze every single bit of apple essence from the peels, and then add a bit of sugar and cinnamon, measuring by taste alone.

I can imagine my grandmother, standing at another kitchen counter doing the same thing when I was a young girl, as I watched her work autumn’s magic with apples, and waited for the first taste. I make applesauce with a food mill, and pressed cookies with the same one that Gram used, because that’s what she did. I follow her example because she knew cooking, and because each time I do, I remember her and her love.

I wonder if that is what the apostle Paul was getting at in Ephesians 5. Leading a life of love, as we follow Jesus’ example, is a fragrant gift to God.

Our world could use something good and fragrant. Love well! ~ Anne