My cologne habit started early. I was 10 or 11 years old. I remember getting a bottle for Christmas. It was probably Stetson or Chaps. I knew nothing about how or where to put it on. I saw someone on TV once put it on their wrists. Which made absolutely no sense to me. How could anyone benefit from this new cowboy-themed fragrance on my wrist? No one is ever close enough to my wrist to notice I was now a Stetson/Chaps man. That first after-Christmas outing was a new day. I had the most pleasant-smelling wrists in town. My wrists smelled of lavender and sandalwood. But no one knew. I imagine I looked around, hoping someone knew or noticed. Looking to make eye contact with someone who KNEW. You're a new man, aren't you? There's just something about you. But no one knew. Wrist-wear wasn't where it was at. The next outing, I had to take it up a notch. This time I got cologne on both hands and put two handprints on my shirt front.
Fast forward to the '90s when our family moved right next to the mall in Clovis, Ca. the first store I'd approach from my house was a department store called Gottchalks. And the first counter in that entrance was the cologne counter. There was something special about all those unique bottles with different colored liquids (which inspired my collection today). One bottle caught my attention. It was square and had green liquid. The name was Calvin Klein's "Eternity." I sprayed a bit on a small piece of cardboard others were testing fragrances on. I loved the smell. It was more complex than the cologne I was used to. The old cologne had a single note. This was far more advanced, like a scent that got more intricate as you smelled it. It had layers. It's like going from mono sound, or one note, to stereo, a perfect mix/blend of instruments. Or like that moment in the Wizard of Oz when black and white go to full color.
Later, I found a store in the mall selling Designer Imposters, a cologne brand. The one I chose was supposed to resemble Calvin Klein's "Obsession." I worked on the opposite end of the mall from Gottchalks at a store called Mervyn's. I worked in the Women's department, ringing up purchases and trying to get customers to sign up for the store credit card. This day I sprayed on a healthy amount of this phony version of "Obsession." And my coworker kindly asked me if next time I could tone down the cologne; it was giving her a headache. Apparently, she could tell which register I had been on because the headache-inducing smell remained after I left. Was this a lousy cologne problem or too much of a good thing problem? I'm not sure. Just to be safe, I retired the use of this "Obsession" knockoff.
I came across this verse in the Bible that may help to shed some light on my story: 1Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)
Paul is encouraging us to imitate God's example of how we love others. When done right, this is a pleasing aroma to God. But a poor imitation smells terrible and can even make God look bad. Was "Obsession" from Calvin Klein a lousy cologne, or was this designer imposter just a bad fake? I've been mortified by how some Christ followers present God's love to a hurting world.
When I was a kid, I attended a church event where they brought an impersonator to entertain us. He wasn't very good. He'd say something and have us guess who he was imitating. We were confused most of the time. He'd say, "That was clearly Scooby-Doo! Do you guys even know who Fred Flintstone is?" He'd ask us as if we were the problem. We weren't.
There's nothing worse than a bad imitation. Especially for something important. Like God's love. How can a broken world separated from God know of His amazing love if not for God's followers accurately representing Him to others? If it's a bad representation, people may be turned off to God. So, what does loving like God even look like? If we are to love like God, we are to….
1. Love the unlovely--8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
When I was a mess, God still loved me. You too. You don't even have to like God or follow his rulesto be loved by him. He loves you even if you don't have your stuff together. It's never been our goodness that's caught God's eye. God noticed me in my brokenness and loved me enough to fix what was wrong with me. God is a lot more gracious than some Christ-followers might represent. It's far easier to love someone loveable. That just comes naturally. It's supernatural to love someone you don't like. And yet that's what loving God's way requires.
2. Love sacrificially--8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
God's love moved Him to give His best for us. God is a lot more generous than some Christ-followers might represent.
3. Love to lovely. Garry Williams writes, "God does not find people who are beautiful and then decide to love them. Rather, he makes the objects of his love beautiful."
You may not naturally smell good. Cologne might be what you need. And your "love aroma" may not be pleasing either. The good news is God gives us the love we're to give others. John, the Apostle known for love, put it this way: We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19. Ultimately, he's saying: God pours His love into us, and we love from the overflow. Or God gives us the actual love we're to give others. In no way are we to come up with this on our own. Thank God! If so, I'd be in trouble. My love fragrance would be like an imitation of "Obsession."
I'm now a sucker for cologne commercials. While in the hospital after my stroke, I saw a Gucci "Guilty" commercial and bought it without smelling it. I bought into the advertisement trap and decided I wanted to live the Gucci lifestyle once I left the hospital. It was a good purchase. I like cologne commercials because they all seem to have healthy men doing active things: sailing, horseback riding, Sauvage (one of my favorite colognes) has Johnny Depp playing the guitar (I love music and used to play the bass when I had use of both hands. I miss it now). Now being a man stuck in a wheelchair, I dream of an active lifestyle.
I now visit a local department store (we'll call it Lacy's) to smell cologne before I make an online purchase at a discount price. This way, I don't buy a stinker. I did buy one recently that was a bad buy. It was a green bottle. I was running low on my green scents. I found a low-priced fragrance with an interesting smell profile: woody, citrus, tobacco, flowers, and leather. That all sounded interesting. But I smelled like an elderly woman who smoked. The flowers smelled like powder. Powder mixed with tobacco was a bad idea for a man's fragrance.
I also have a white bottle that smells like a sexy, manly grapefruit smell. I have a blue bottle, Nautica "Voyager," with a sexy manly apple smell. "Sauvage" has a sexy manly autumn smell. I sprayed a small red bottle that Sarah said smelled like vomit. And not even a sexy manly kind. I've never sprayed it on again.
Do you still have the cologne car???
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