Tuesday, September 11, 2012

the sense in mission: a childhood resource

Here Comes Frankie! is a children’s book by Tim Hopgood. It tells the story of Frankie, who discovers that when he plays the trumpet, he can not only hear, but see and smell. “The air was filled with colourful music and bursts of weird and wonderful smells.”

Which means that everything begins to change. Frankie’s parents begin to dance and all down the street people begin to tap and clap.

It’s a book full of colour (paint chips front and back), styled in a way that insists you touch each page. It’s based on synthaesthesia, the condition in which some people (Miles Davis and Jean Sibelius) actually do see and smell music.

A children’s book, yet a wonderful reminder of the priority of sense in mission, the way that sound, sight and smell change our world, invite people into God’s mission in our communities (join God’s Conga line, to use the image of mission from Stephen Bevans).

Posted by steve at 11:21 PM

2 Comments

  1. This past Sunday my message was based on the four gospel accounts of the woman anointing Jesus at Bethany, entitled “Jesus smelled the perfume.” It was primarily about sense of smell. We ended with communion featuring the smell of incense and perfume at the communion tables. Audio of the message here: http://www.hillsidelondon.com/audio-items/hillside-values-worship/

    Comment by Pernell — September 12, 2012 @ 1:30 pm

  2. Yep, that’s a pretty classical sense text – smell of men and feet and perfume, touch of flesh, seeing and hearing; taste of the food being consumed,

    steve

    Comment by steve — September 12, 2012 @ 9:24 pm

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