Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 Maybe pipe smoking is an obsession, but I am referring to my Angels.  They are THE obsession.  But I try not to write about my Angels too much.  I consider pipe smoking my hobby I have done for over 50 years.  While in seminary the dean of students suggested I not smoke a pipe.  I gave them up for a few years and later went back to them.   I never really gave them up but just didn’t smoke on campus.  I hung out in pipe shops and frequented places where I could smoke a pipe.  It was infrequent pipe smoking but still, I liked my pipes.  A colleague said of me that I was a rebel and have been all my life.  When the Angels introduced themselves to me I was certain they weren’t there for me.  But they were.   They chose me for a task that often I believe I have performed poorly.  But the Angels assured me that I have a place in heaven.  My numbers on social media are small, and I feel I have done very little for my A...

 Would I really give up pipe smoking?  No, not really.  I drink a little wine too, but I don’t collect wine as a hobby.  I drink what I buy.  I drink about a bottle a month and it takes me a week to go through a bottle.  I figure I smoke about 20 ounces of bulk tobacco a month.  I very seldom buy tobacco in tins unless it is something special.   I pretty much have smoked what I had.  I just buy in bulk and pretty much smoke what I order in a month.  I could slow down in pipe smoking but I am one of those guys who smoke five to ten bowls a day depending on the size of my pipe.  I actually smoke a lot more than average.  But I’m retired and have the time for my pipes.   My pipes lower both my heart rate and my blood pressure.  But that is mostly because I avoid tobaccos with higher Nicotine content.  Nicotine does not like me.  Sure, I get some from any tobacco, but I avoid too much.  I’ve smoked enough t...

 I slept in until ten-thirty this morning.  Not much is in my mind today.  I take days off from thinking.  This is Memorial Day weekend and a lot of you are making the official start of summer something special.  My wife and I plan to stay at home and just take it easy.  We need to start getting things together for our summer in upstate NY. Sometimes I just don’t feel like thinking.  I just placed an order for 34 ounces of bulk tobacco, comprising of seven different blends with two ounces being an aromatic.  I got burned out from smoking too much Autumn Evening, but decided to order two ounces of it so I could get free shipping from Smoking Pipes.  I like Perique, but Perique doesn’t like me.  I try to avoid Perique.   I wish I could smoke more Perique, but I’ve learned my lessons with it.  I ordered six different English blends none of which contain Perique.  If I don’t know what is in a blend regardless of reviews I simp...

 If I have learned one thing from my Angels it is to go from where you are.  Everyone has a different starting point in life.  Our parents were or are different from other parents.  Siblings are all different.  Finances are all different.  And some people live with regrets while some don’t regret anything.  We just go from where we are.  Each person exists for a reason.  Every person who comes into our lives are there for a reason.   It is said that today is the first day of your life.  You simply go from where you are at this point in your life.  We can’t dwell on the past or have anxieties about the future.  What we have is the now.  I have said this before and is a big part of Buddhist philosophy.  We have right now and that is all we have.  We can’t change the past and the future is in our hands.  But the future isn’t here.  What is here is the Right Now.   Life does nothing more than to t...

 It matters not who you are, everyone has a god.  It might not be THE one God, but everyone has a god.  It could be science or mathematics or business or whatever you do, you have a god.  My God teaches the value of all Human Life.  There is an ethic about life from most any god.  I can’t see someone like Neil DeGras Tyson being one who does respect Human Life.   Some Atheists are more ethical than some Christians.  What God judges is how each person values Human Life.  That’s it.  Life is nothing but a test to see how each person values Human Life.  Is that all there is to it?  In a nutshell—yes.  Love respects every Human Life.   But some will reject such a theology.  But it is a learning process.  Life can get in the way of such purity.  And we might develop a way of thinking that allows for the taking of Human Life for many reasons.  But even an Atheist can feel about Human Life as I do.  ...

 My focus is solely on Peace and Love.  My only judgment is on those who intentionally take Human Life.  That’s it.  I smoke a pipe in order to focus on Peace and Love.  Judgment belongs only to God.  He did not choose me to judge.  Belief in my Angels is secondary.  I believe I represent them through Peace and Love.  My Angels didn’t make me perfect—just better.   I am a better person because of my Angels.  It’s what they do for anyone who encounters them.  Perfection only belongs to Jesus and betterment for the rest of us.  I’m not sure what Heaven is all about, except it is Perfect Peace and Love.  On earth Angel encounters make us better.  Some might have more insight because of them, but each in his or her own way.   My Angels made me better in my own way.  Mental well-being is a big part of it.  And we see life more clearly and have a deeper understanding of others.  I’ve grown different...