Ode to Incense

Awakening to Wholeness is a series of prompts, reflections, and teachings about how holding the tension of opposites can help us to heal division and experience wholeness. If you feel moved to share your own reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.

Oh incense! 
You are the closest experience symbol object that I can muster from human experience 
To catch glimpses of the divine 

Oh, sweet delight! Oh, sweet encounter! 
I watch your wafts and feel seen 
Chaotic and serene 
You flow directly from Source 
Full and empty 
You permeate everything 
Visible, then not 
Your fragrance lingers long after I am gone 

You are like an image of God 
Too many images are static and overly personal 
In this form you are dynamic, enlivening 

You are like the Christ 
It is impossible to touch you now 
but your fragrance fills the room 

You are like the One and the many 
When you emerge from the singleness of a stick 
you often come forth as two pillows of smoke 
From the One, each pillow separates and goes its own way 
dissipating and returning to the oneness of the air 

When you emerge from the circle of charcoal you come forth as a Cloud 
constantly moving out as concentric circles 
The pillows of your smoke mesmerize me 
the fragrance of your scent calms me 
observing your movement through the air and into all things inspires me 

You are like a dancer 
The sight of you pulls me in 
Makes me want to follow your every move 
You swirl, you go up and you go down, you go back-and-forth, and you spiral all around 
Your movement fills everything 

You are like deep dialogue 
Your spaciousness fills and encapsulates every molecule of the air you touch 
Your suppleness flows and softens each atom of the air that you bump into 
Your surrender yields as your solidity becomes a force in the air 

In one moment 
I see your fullness in the smoke 
And in the next you disappear 
Permeating into everything

Contemplative Questions

We offer the following questions as prompts to help you reflect on the presence of opposites in your spiritual practice and your life.

• Do you use incense in your prayer life? How does it change or enrich your experience of prayer?
• What experiences, symbols, or objects—whether in your prayer practices, or in other parts of your life—offer you glimpses of the divine?
• Incense is simultaneously “chaotic and serene,” “full and empty,” “visible, then not.” Can you think of other symbols or objects that embody the wisdom of opposites?

Christine Luna Munger

Christine Luna Munger, PhD currently serves as the director of the Episcopal House of Prayer. She previously served as Coordinator of the Spiritual Direction Certificate and Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University. She regularly writes, teaches, and leads group prayer sits at EHoP.

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