What Does God Smell Like?

We often picture God in our mind’s eye. Many of us hear God’s voice. But in a recent prayer time, I wondered, “What does God smell like?” Even as I write that, it feels like a weird question. Yet science tells us that our sense of smell is uniquely tied to our emotions and memories.¹ So I sat with the question of what does God smell like.

God smells like
     Incense and candles
          Grandfather's pipe
               Grandmother's floral perfume
                    A lonely dirt road
                         The forest after a rain
                              Honest sweat
                                   A new-born baby
                                        An approaching thunderstorm
                                             Freshly fallen snow
                                                  Baking bread
                                             A springtime meadow
                                        A field after the harvest
                                   Freshly cut grass
                              A mountain waterfall
                         Freshly turned loamy soil
                    Autumn Leaves
               Citrus in bloom
          The first thaw of spring
     Shed Blood

What does God smell like to you?

1. See, for example, https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/connections-between-smell-memory-and-health ↩︎