Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 I’ve taken the MMPI so many times I have it practically memorized.  But not sure it’s still being used much any longer.  It is a personality inventory used by mental health professionals.  But one of the questions is whether or not anyone understands me.  I have never been able to say no one understands me.  I think I am and have been very well understood as a person.  That is a question about how alone one feels in the world.   As to whether or not God and angels are entities of understanding I have never had a problem with God.  All my life it has always been about people, but never about God.  I grew up being apart from extended family as the church was supposed to be family.  I think that is why I went into ministry in the first place.  No matter where I was I was around ‘family.”   That is okay if accepted, but I never felt accepted.  I was always an outlier.  I think that is why in my later years we are li...

 I’m too old to be neurotic.  I used to care if few read my blog post, but one day no one read it and you know what?  I didn’t care.  I’m too old to worry about what people think.  I’ve had two brushes with death and I realize life is too short to be neurotic.  My wife wasn’t crazy about my Facebook avatar of the Four Horsemen from  Revelation and I told her I didn’t care.  I was going to use them anyway.   I’m at the point where I just don’t care.  I really don’t.  I’m a firm believer in balance.  Always enough but not too much.  Even no one reading my posts is balance.  Why?  Because in all I do it’s about balance.  There is even balance in my message of both Love and Peace.  Jesus says if you’re not accepted move on.  One can only do so much.  This is my philosophy for living.   Move on.  Do what you do and move on.  If no one reads my posts, I’ll do better and just keep doin...

 I do think ahead, but life is lived in the now.  My wife says she wants a more active social life, while I am content pretty much being by myself.  It’s why right now I’m keeping my FB contacts a few.  I’m not actively seeking people on Facebook.  I want a quiet and Peaceful life.  That could change, but I like limiting contacts.  In my thinking the fewer the better.  Which is why I am not friends with one of my sons. I’ve found solace in quiet.  I have a tendency to be too noisy at times.  And I have guilt complex for being too noisy.  I want things simple and not complex.  Simple is always best.  The simpler the better in my thinking.  Historically speaking, my life has been too complex and I can make it so again.  I’d rather not.  I don’t care if it’s just family and no one else.  I like simplicity in life and living.   Simplicity adds to my Spirituality.  My theology is very simple. ...

 A long journey begins with the first step.  I’m in no hurry to acquire a lot of followers or friends on Facebook, but will focus on quality.  I said this the other day, but I want to emphasize quality.  I’m thinking that all I do is a product of good thoughts and intentions.  My thoughts matter.  Maybe it seems I am alone a lot smoking my pipe but I AM connected to the Divine.  I don’t need a lot of distractions to break that connection.  My thoughts matter.  My thoughts might not change the world, but they change people who change the world. I’d rather focus on a few than many.  I have a few.  Jesus began with a few.  I’d rather focus on the few.  If I felt the masses mattered my quality would suffer.  I want my best for a few.  I don’t care if one or two get my best.  The Spirit will add as necessary.  Even if what I do here is for no one but myself it doesn’t matter.  It’s still my best. This i...

 I’ve been hung up lately on my Spirituality and these being the Last Days before the New Beginning.  While this might be true, life is bigger than all that.  I’m still focused on my Spirituality and all I’ve said, but that isn’t where I want to focus my time and energy.  You might say I’m branching out a bit realizing the times we live in today speak for themselves.  Anyone who believes as I do already knows. So, I’m more focused on the present.  What does today tell me?  Stay focused on friends and family.  I’ve learned a lot in the past few days while being on Facebook.  It’s still new to me and I just have two family members as friends.  But I’m looking at the various posts thinking there are so many interests out there on so many things and my world has been much too small.  In a way, I’ve liked that it has been but my needs go beyond the immediate. Today is college football Saturday and I have my two games I have decided to wa...

 I took my first plunge into Social Media Wednesday evening for the first time since my heart attack in 2011.  There were stresses with social media that I no longer wanted.  I decided to just drop all social media all together thinking it caused me too much stress after so much discussion with my experience with the Divine.  I didn’t think social media was a healthy outlet for me and may in fact contributed to my heart attack.   I decided on a different approach instead saying in my introduction to myself the date of that experience and the fact that I am a pipe smoker of fifty years.  I included or maybe excluded any ties to where I worked or what I did excluding also any ties to a hometown, colleges, and my seminary.  I want to begin with November 25, 1993 to the present without any ties except for my wife and my one son.   My other son being a public figure would bring too much unwanted attention to me being his father.  I prefer now to j...

 I have my next tobacco order ready to go.  I worked on it after talking to my wife who said she wanted me to order some “nice smelling” tobacco.  I have to admit that after smoking nearly fourteen ounces of Carter Hall, the room note doesn’t smell very good and I’m not crazy about it.  Carter Hall is a typical Virginia Burley blend that leaves a lot to be desired.  It’s okay as most any tobacco is okay, but I’ve had other similar blends I liked better.    Good Stuff might have the best OTC tobaccos I have had including Gambler, Red River, and Super Value. The best OTC might be Captain Black Original and my least favorite was Mixture Number 79, which I think was the worst of the bunch.  Carter Hall is just so-so, but I’m happy to have smoked so much of it.  It is like so many OTC blends.  I’m happy to have smoked so much of it, but I doubt I’ll order it again.   In my order is a Balkian tobacco, which is the holy grail of pipe smoke...