Fact: I’m strangely attracted to ritual. It’s one of the things that I treasure about both being a Freemason and also about church. Even church in it’s more contemporary forms, when it’s done well, has an element of ritual. I think that’s part of the reason pipe smoking is so attractive to me. There’s a ritual to it. Selecting the pipe or tobacco I want to smoke, pairing the two for a good match, preparing the tobacco, packing the pipe, the charring light, the final light, the measured puffs and tamps that take me to the end of the bowl, emptying, cleaning, and putting the pipe carefully back in it’s place. Pipe smoking when done well for me is a ritual - one that leads me into relaxation, meditation, and contemplation. The ritual of the smoke allows me to better connect and better understand both myself and the world in which I live. It gives me that time and space I need to step away and reflect critically. As Plato said in the Apology: The unexamined life is not worth living. The ritual of pipe smoking makes my life worth living.
