It is a dark and rainy day in Houston. It is Thanksgiving Day, and the weather fits the mood for the holiday this year. We usually mark this day by doing what everyone else does with the traditional turkey dinner and a large family gathering. For us, this is a low key day with a frozen meal.

The reason this year is different is that my mother is going through radiation treatments for oral cancer. For three weeks now, a hospital clinic zapped her with radiation around her mouth and neck, and she has three more weeks to go. With each zapping session, her discomfort has grown, and now she cannot eat solid food, and she requires morphene to deal with the pain so she can get through another day. It is painful to see her suffer, but we live with the hope that she will heal after the treatments and have the oral cancer forever behind her.

My sister has taken my mother to every appointment. Because of this, she is spending the holiday with husband and son whom she has not been around much during the treatments. They will have a traditional celebration, and it is wonderful that they can do so.

To have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with her feels cruel. Later today, we are going to go to her house and drink milkshakes with her in solidarity with her on this Thanksgiving Day. No one will have solid food with her, but I know we will all enjoy our meal and we will do it together.

My fear is that my mother feels like a burden because of her dependence upon her children to get through her ordeal. But if she reads this, I hope she understands that my sister and I care for her deeply and are tremendously grateful for her. We love her and feel it is a privilege to help her in her time of need. We are thankful for who she is and what she has done.

As I sit on the sofa with a cup of coffee, I am thankful for so many things. God blesses us beyond measure. Despite my mother’s present suffering, we are thankful that once she is through the treatments, she will live cancer free with a good prognosis. We pray for that daily.

Reflecting on the day, this could have been one of the usual Thanksgiving holidays with the traditions and the usual. Today is in the realm of the unusual, but thankfulness remains. This will likely be a Thanksgiving long remembered, and in a good way.

When the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony had their first thanksgiving feast, they did it after losing many of their members to diseases. They had plenty of reason to feel sorrow, and yet, despite this, they gathered together to give thanks to God for His Providence and care as they established their lives in the new world. They knew they could do this because of their faith.

May you experience the joy and knowledge of God and the hope that this faith brings. I am thankful for you!

Lately when I smoke a pipe, I like to take a photograph of it. It’s sort of like what a foodie does except for pipes. Here are some of the images I have taken as of late.

I have a friend named Bob Doll who happens to be a cartoonist as well as an entrepreneur. Earlier this week, I was looking at updates on Instagram when I saw a notification that I had been tagged in a photo. Of course, I was curious and clicked on the posting. To my surprise, there was a cartooned image of me in all of its glory. Well, here it is!

I never thought I would become a certified consumer tobacconist, but that day has arrived. I took the final exam with the Tobacconist University and passed after taking online courses. I don’t think it adds tremendously to my curriculum vitae except for some bragging rights, but it was fun learning about tobacco and premium cigars and pipe tobacco types.

This is day one of my new hydroponic garden. The four pods on the left are seeded with Virginia Bright Leaf Tobacco, and the five pods on the right have Peppermint seeds. The system is called Click&Grow, a smart system that works with a smartphone app. I will be posting updates on the progress: particularly the tobacco.

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. I cannot imagine life without God. I believe with all of my heart that face is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

I have been organizing my gentleman’s shelf in my office. It’s looking pretty good.

There is no hope in death. There is only death. In this state of being, there is only fear as the clock ticks closer to the moment of death.

There is hope in faith in Christ. Faith is everything. In the state of faith, there is comfort and joy in the knowledge of eternal life.

God sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world to free us from sin and death. He died on a cross, and on the third day, he rose again in glory.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ and the Gospel share in the joy and hope of the Resurrection. Death has no sting. It is merely the transition into the eternal pleasure of being in the glory of God.

Jesus Christ delivers us from death, and I gratefully put my trust in him.

I grew up in a family where smoking was taboo, which is not a terrible thing. When I was in college, I smoked an occasional cigarette with friends during study breaks. Still, I did not really find the experience enjoyable.

A church group of men in my congregation called TWC (Theology, Wine, and Cigars) meets monthly. I indulged in a couple of cigars. Personally, I found them too strong for my taste. But while some of them were puffing on some fine cigars, others were enjoying their long-stem churchwarden pipes.

I decided to buy a pipe and try it a couple of weeks ago. Even though I didn’t know what I was doing, I found the experience enjoyable and curiously relaxing. Pipe smokers say they enjoy the ritual of preparing and lighting a pipe, and I must say that the practice takes one’s mind off the concerns of the day a bit.

My first pipe tobacco was a cheaper brand called Wind River. The tobacco has a lovely smell, but I think the product was too dry because my pipe bowl burned down quickly. It was still a pleasant experience, but I think I got 10 minutes or so worth of smoke.

I was looking at pipe tobacco blends and came across one called Presbyterian. I thought to myself, a Calvinist blend of tobacco might be my destiny, so I ordered a few cans. I tried my first bowl of it, and wow! It has a sweet taste to it, and the tobacco lasted a long time in the pipe bowl–probably half an hour. It was a cool, dry smoke, and it was a perfect session–in part because I had gotten better at preparing my pipe bowl.

Smoking is not a healthy activity. I have seen people die from lung cancer, which is not a fate I would want for me. Pipe smoking is probably the least risky way to enjoy tobacco. You do not inhale the smoke into your lungs, but you enjoy the taste and sensation of the experience. I believe in moderation; just like anything else, it will be just fine. There are risks for oral cancer, but I have read on the best ways to avoid that. I would imagine my chance would be no more than drinking alcohol in moderation. After I smoke a pipe, I soon brush my teeth and cleanse my mouth with hydrogen peroxide and mouth wash.

The irony of my new activity is I picked it up from church! Who would have thought that? That’s okay, though, because I love my compatriots. When we meet, we will look like some hobbits enjoying some pipeweed before the second breakfast. I guess we could say holy smokes!

It’s a nice afternoon for some pipe time with my Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe.

Today is Good Friday. We mark the day that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross. By his sacrifice, we are reconciled with God.

Jesus suffered in every possible way from the time he was arrested until he took his last breath on the hard wood of the cross. He felt physical pain that is unimaginable, but even more so, he felt the spiritual pain of being separated from the Father.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46 (ESV)

Lord, thank you for what you did for us. You freed us from sin and the tyranny of the Evil One. We owe you everything, including our faith, our loyalty, and our obedience to your word. Amen.