Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 I spend a lot of time pondering my Angels.  It’s in the Parables.  Jesus knew there were two sins He wasn’t going to die for—that the intentional taking human life—that of others or that of one’s own life.  Mark 4:13 says all the parables say the same thing.  The parable of the old cloak and old wine skin is found in Matthew 9:14-17.  Scholars have argued over this parable for centuries.  There basically is only one sin Jesus could be talking about.  That of intentionally taking human life.   Jesus was to die for all sins, but not this one.  Which is why I am very libertine in my thinking.  But I do have my biases as Jesus did not.  He simply didn’t allow for the taking of human life.  He was speaking directly to the Pharisees, who carried out the Old Testament Laws that allowed for it.  He prevented the Pharisees doing this as much as He could.  He couldn’t protect those whom He could not be around to protect. ...

 My Angels said I will help prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.  I tell my wife often that I have either done that or will be doing it.  So, I don’t concern myself with numbers.  The world will know when it is time.  I am to simply live and live simply.  That is all I have to do.  God and Angels will do the rest.   My Angels left smoking my pipe up to me.  If Jesus had but one drop of alcohol the whole plan of salvation would have been in jeopardy and God would have had to find another way.  I say I am not Jesus, but must be careful with any alcohol. Jesus had it fifteen times worse than I have.  I can’t imagine what he went through psychologically.  He had to have doubts.  But He trusted God more than I have.  The pain and suffering He endured was far beyond what anyone can imagine.  So, I focus on Him as much as I can. I will be in heaven along with my family and a place has been secured for me there...

 It might be too simple to say we have encountered an Angel when we are left with feelings of Love and Peace.  But those feelings we encounter could be anyone disguised as an Angel.  We are often unaware of Angels around us.  But they are here.  They are preparing the way for the Messiah.  Some say Angels disguise themselves as animals.  But feelings of Love and peace can be fleeting and we are left unawares.   This one won’t be long.  I just wanted to say that Angels manipulate our feelings.  They do this in many ways.  The best way to describe Angels is that we have this overwhelming feeling of Love and Peace and we never know how that feeling will come to us.  Often it just happens.  And when it does you can thank the Angels for that feeling.  Angels change lives once that feeling is encountered.  I know of that which I speak.  I work hard to keep that feeling.  I know Angels. I’m sitting on the deck...

If more than ten cars a day pass by our house on the road out front that is a busy day up here on the mountain.  We’re half way up a big hill actually, but locals call it a mountain.  In the UK a mountain has to be 2,000 feet, so in the UK this would be a mountain.  We are surrounded by mountains, but the forests get in the way of views.  We can see the sun rise but it sets behind the mountain and we never get views of sunsets.   But there is no mistaking we are nestled in a forest.  And we live among creatures of the forest.  I took the above photo just last evening but I have a lot of photos of deer as they amble through our yard.  One day in the spring right after we moved here we counted 21 deer in our front yard!  They were just simply grazing on the grass.  Deer are probably most abundant here.   We’ve seen other creatures and a neighbor has raccoon traps set up behind our house.  And yes, there are bugs.  A lot of b...

I am at our NY home this morning listening to the quiet and smoking my Gettysburg pipe with some Davidoff Danish Mixture.  I can hear the chickens next door but it’s mostly birds and the wind whispering through the trees.  It is so peaceful here.   But according to my wife we are too isolated here.  But I love coming out to the deck, smoke my pipe, and listen to the quiet.   On a busy day about ten cars pass by our house on the road out front.  I can literally hear myself think.  There might be too many bugs here, but most days I don’t notice.  The deer ramble through our yard most mornings and evenings.  But I love when the breeze gently whispers to the trees.   I’ve gone thought to sitting on the deck writing a book, but most days I just like to sit in the quiet and listen.  I don’t always see the deer, but some days I can hear them rustling the underbrush.  I know they are there watching my every move.  They are as curi...

 Davidoff isn’t a cheap knockoff brand of tobacco.  They make excellent blends, but in my thinking, while English Mixture was good, Danish Mixture is much better.  It is just a light Aromatic flavored tobacco that is simply elegant for the Davidoff name.  Very simply it is a slightly flavored English blend with mostly Virginia and some Barley.  Some Black Cavendish is mixed in with a very mellow taste.   There is no tongue bite with this blend, which is typical of the Davidoff tobaccos.  This tobacco is simply smooth and mellow with just a hint of flavor.  There is nothing fancy about this blend.  I really don’t have a lot to say about it.  This blend gets a 4.6 out of five rating on Smoking Pipes and deserves every bit of that.  It has 32 reviews, which aren’t a lot of reviews, but it seems the reviews mostly are not written by newbies, but By experienced pipe smokers.   The flavoring is so subtle that one might think the flav...

 If everyone believed in God the same way and if everyone believed Human Life is sacred there would be Peace in this world.  But the same God worshipped by many is believed differently.  But unfortunately religions see God in different ways and each group believes their God is THE God.  Religions can’t seem to share the same God.  Most every war is religious in some form or another.   I can’t help but comment on the most recent conflict in the Middle East.  It’s about whose God is most righteous.  It reminds me of a song from the 60’s.  I can’t help but think about it.  The song is “One Tin Soldier.”  The hill people have a prized stone.  The valley people want it for their very own.  So they do battle over the stone with much bloodshed.   Then the valley people win the battle.  And when they turn the stone over, it says, “Peace on earth.  The tin soldier is love and tries to unite the people.  But he r...