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Good morning.

This week I’ve been talking about our senses.

Of all the senses we have – taste, touch, sight, sound – I sometimes think smell is often overlooked.  It’s always there in the background, but awakens more fully when something unpleasant or beautiful reaches us!

The historic Old Town of Edinburgh was once a place where you couldn’t escape bad smells.  Poverty, decay and disease eventually led to the building of a more spacious, sophisticated New Town.  Although both Old and New Town are now world heritage sites, it is often the old, winding intricate streets of the Old Town leading off the Royal Mile that draw the most curiosity.  There is a history and heritage in the pends, the wynds and closes, and a humanity in the stories of those who once lived there.

Today, as I attune my sense of smell in this city, there is the freshness of the morning air, the gentle fragrance of the grass and herbs in the garden of the Kirkyard, and if I’m honest, the slight stale smell of the night before.  In this bustling Festival city, there are significant quantities of food and drink consumed over the wee small hours!

In these early morning moments, the street cleaners are ending their often thankless work as the street stalls begin to set up again and the coffee shops are temptingly brewing their liquid gold and filling the air with invitation.  Everything declares the gift of a new day to awaken the senses – as so beautifully summed up in these words of John Bell and Graham Maule - my prayer this morning.

Today I awake and God is before me.

At night as I dreamt, God summoned the day.

For God never sleeps but patterns the morning,

With slivers of gold or glory in grey.

Amen.