Sermon for Sunday, May 31, 2015
Trinity Sunday
Galeries Lafayette, Paris
This morning’s sermon may at times seem like it’s about the Nicene Creed, but it’s really about the Trinity; and more specifically, the role the Trinity can play in our lives, if we let it. In just a moment we’ll get to the Creed and the Trinity, but first I’d like to begin with perfume.
Several years ago when Ashley and I were in Paris to celebrate our tenth anniversary, we stopped at the Galeries Lafayette department store. To call the Galeries Lafayette a “department store” is really not fair, because it’s more than a department store. Its Belle Epoque (1893) architecture is stunning, and it’s considered a Paris heritage site. From its over-the-top façade to its multi-colored glass dome to its Art Nouveau staircase, the Galeries Lafayette is an amazing building, itself worth a trip to the 9th arrondissement. It has a superb shoe department, women’s handbags to die for, a really – REALLY – good food court, and the perfume selection…. OMG. Neither of us is into perfumes, but we went from one astonishing fragrance to the next, smelling brands and formulas I had never heard of but whose scents hinted of romance and exotic places. This one was definitely a citrus-y fragrance; that one an herbally-lavender. This one must have had some sandalwood in it; that one, cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. I had never paid much attention to perfume, but that afternoon of smelling was an astonishing, overwhelmingly beautiful experience. Continue reading
Trinity Newton Homilies 