"As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing.
"What has happened?" the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby-carriage along the sidewalk.
"Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well," replied the man; "and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City."
"Hm!" said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. "If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?"
"I really do not know," replied the man, with a deep sigh. "Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.""
- L. Frank Baum, "The Land of Oz"
Thursday, June 23, 2005
I smoke cigars, not a pipe, but I love this poem by Johann Sebastian Bach:
Whene'er I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away
My thoughts, as I sit there and puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that very like
Am I myself unto my pipe.
Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,
Is made of naught but earthen clay;
To earth I too shall be returning,
And cannot halt my slow decay.
My well used pipe, now cracked and broken,
Of mortal life is but a token.
No stain, the pipe's hue yet doth darken;
It remains white. Thus do I know
That when to death's call I must harken
My body, too, all pale will grow.
To black beneath the sod 'twill turn,
Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.
Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then instantaneously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
'Til naught but ash is left to see.
Man's fame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.
How oft it happens when one's smoking,
The tamper's missing from it's shelf,
And one goes with one's finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell
How hot must be the pains of Hell!
Thus o'er my pipe in contemplation
Of such things - I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation,
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, at sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.
Bach's poem makes me think of Dr. M.B. Jackson, a Princeton-trained theologian who was the head of the Religious Studies department at my alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, and therefore a professor and frequent theological mentor of mine and honorary Thinkling Daniel's. He was a thin, wrinkled man with white hair, and whenever we had a test, he would excuse himself to the stone steps out in front of the building, taking his trusty pipe with him. He always said, "If anyone needs me, I'll be outside sending up a burnt offering."
I loved that.
Sadly, Dr. Jackson passed away a few years ago. I think I'll dedicate this post to his memory.
And also to Bird, my best friend and partaker of the pipe, who is missed on this site very much.
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Comments on "I Smoke and Worship God":
2. Daniel
- 06/23/2005 6:15 am CDT
I smiled at your recollections of Dr. Jackson. I found out about his passing too late to attend visitation or his funeral back in 2000 but I always wanted to let him know how much he meant to my spiritual development at a time in my life when I was really questioning and searching.
Hopefully, Dr. Jackson gets to smoke his pipe in heaven (if we get to do such things). :-)
3. Lyric Crossborn
- 06/23/2005 7:19 am CDT
I ran across this quote the other day:
I have enough trouble keeping the Ten Commandments, I don't need to add an eleventh one ... and I fully intend to go home tonight and smoke a cigar to the glory of God. -Charles H. Spurgeon
6. jen
- 06/23/2005 9:34 am CDT
I have long loved the smell of a pipe. My uncle smoked a pipe for about 30 years; until a fire almost destroyed his home. Inexplicably he moved on to cigarettes in the aftermath and has not taken up the pipe again as far as I know.
And ya'll know that I've smoked a stogie or two...
7.
- 06/24/2005 6:02 am CDT
I am a Christian man and I smoke both a pipe and cigars. The first person I ever remember seeing with a pipe or cigar is my grandfather who was a Baptist preacher for 55 years. It burns me up to hear people say, "You smoke! I thought you were a Christian. You're going to hell." It's hard to beat a fine cigar or a cherry blend for the ol' pipe. :)
9. Dasher
- 06/24/2005 9:43 am CDT
Ahh...C.S. Lewis said that we often had misconceptions of Heaven; things such as seeing relatives and so forth, and that we could smoke cigars there, "for we should all like that." While he says it with contempt for bad hymns and old lithographs, it IS a nice thought. By the way, there are some nice groups for Chrsitian pipe smokers extant: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christianpipesmokers/
I too am a cigar man, but my Dad has a pipe that I just borrowed yesterday. You know what Spurgeon said about cigars: "I will quit when I smoke to excess" but what is excess "when I have a cigar in both hands."