Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 If I just focused on my Angels every post I make here, it would be boring.  Pipe smoking just might be my only hobby.  I follow politics throughout the day, but come evening I’m looking more for entertainment and relaxation.  I could write about politics but choose not to do this.  I like Buddhist philosophy, but avoid discussing religion.   I consider myself a philosopher/theologian, but again apart from my Angels I just avoid religious thought as much as I can.  I consider myself informed, but apart from my Angels I try to avoid religion in general.  My Angels are controversial enough.  I try to mix up my blog with pipe smoking and sometimes I leave everything for other pipe smokers.   I think of my wife and she’s glad I have an interest in pipes and tobaccos.  I try not to be one-dimensional.  In fact, I try to be inclusive of both the pipe smokers and those who consider themselves Spiritual.  My pipe is a tool for my ...

 I started this about five times this morning and deleted each one.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to write this morning and maybe I’ll delete this one too.  My Angels weren’t just for me.  They’re there for everyone I know.  But that seems rather a broad scope whether one even believes in God.  I’ve learned long ago that beliefs don’t matter except just to me.   I believe in my Angels and really, if you want to know the Truth, that is all that matters.  What anyone believes about God, Angels, or even Jesus doesn’t really matter to me or even to God Himself.  I am but a simple Messenger with a simple Message.  And I don’t cram my Angels down anyone’s throat.  To me, they are real.  But I am my only proof.   I had no witnesses.  I have just my word.  And often in my thinking, I am a relatively lousy ambassador for Angels.  But I try to judge as I know God judges and that is to go so far to excuse unbelief.  Jus...

 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...