He was talking about sanctification and salvation, and he gave this very apt analogy. Becoming a Christian is like becoming a grandfather (and I think becoming a mother/father/grandmother works too). At the moment the baby is born, your status is changed - you're no more only so-and-so, but you're also grandfather (or mother/father/grandmother) to a special human being. But as you watch that baby grow and take care of him/her, you also grow into the role, becoming more and more a grandfather (or etc.), and becoming better at it, as you live with the baby, and love and care for him/her. So is it with becoming a Christian - at the moment you accept Christ, you've become a Christian, perfect in the eyes of God. But as you live your life, you also grow into the role of a Christian, becoming better at it, and closer to perfection, as time goes by.
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A quote from GK Chesterton, used in an article about the much-hyped-up Da Vinci Code: Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.
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The fragrance seems to have floated off in the midst of hibernation, of winter. It seems, being cooped up, to have become cloying, a musty smell of long slumber, even death. There needs to be new breath, or breath anew, rather, to chase out the old and refresh the new. At least it's not a case for CPR, but it's definitely one for weaning off the ventilator and taking in of clean fresh air.
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