An Obsession?

 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 Angels.  But they assured me that I would help them.  It’s not a false homily when I say I have helped little.

Maybe I have far more than I ever thought I would or have done.  But I smoke a pipe so that I don’t sit around and worry about what I have not done.  I do it simply by living.  My goal is to just stay alive until the Messiah comes.  A pipe is a tool for relaxation and meditation.  I don’t stress about how I have lived my life.  God knew what I would and would not do.  He knew HOW I would do it.  

But even to this day I am clueless about the HOW.  I just do what I do and let God do the rest.  Yeah, I obsess about it all.  I try to find distractions from my Angels and my pipes are a distraction.  But smoking a pipe keeps me focused on that which is most important.  I once thought I could give up my pipes for cigars, but cigars are just too expensive.  

Once I started smoking a pipe there was no going back.  I was hooked into smoking a pipe.  The addiction for me is the relaxation a pipe offers me.  I even asked my Angels whether I had to give up my pipes.  They said my pipes were up to me.  No one can take my pipes from me.  They will remain a part of that which defines me.  My pipes AND my Angels define me.  Both are my obsessions.  I can afford the tobacco.  I can afford a new pipe every once in a while.  

Today is a day of remembrance.  For many it is the official start of summer.  My wife and I are thinking about our summer in NY this year.  It will be a special summer for us both.  My pipe this morning is my Dunhill Chestnut pipe and I have enough Proper English to last until I receive my shipment of tobacco tomorrow.  My coffee is Blue Bottle.  Have a safe Memorial Day and I thank you for your time.  Peace and Love to each one of you.

Dave