The Tree of Life<\/em>, a beautiful and ambitious film set between eternity and the 1950\u2019s, there is a scene where a group of young boys chase a fumigation truck down a neighborhood street, frolicking amidst a thick cloud of mosquito repellant. I was blind to that scene in many ways at first: in the ecstatic joy of boyish play and tomfoolery, I could only worry about the health of those children running in that smoke. They saw a cause for play; I, a problem.<\/p>\n+++<\/p>\n
Despite my love of cigarettes, I\u2019m still something of a prude. I am a product of my time. A millennial. I, too, suffer from the problem of problems: the urge to problematize leads me away from reverence, from God. It is no surprise that the abolition of cigarettes is moving along at a fast and popular pace, alongside the loss of the sacred. We are finally solving these problems. Soon, the late-modern dreamers say, we may even abolish death and suffering and all religion. Sometimes the only reply I can muster to that sterile and loveless imagination is to smoke another cigarette. To live a little.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.prleap.com\/image\/1882\/full\/No_Smoking_Original_Small.jpg\" "\\"no")
Smoking bans abound, as we have seen and will continue to see. But make no mistake, despite the many scruples of our time: cigarettes are another fading part of daily life that is not afraid of leisure or tragedy, that has an imagination and appetite for the timeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn saecula saeculorum<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nIf only for that, I think they deserve some praise.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I begin with a generous pinch of finely cut tobacco, cradled inside a creased, rectangular sheet of paper, with a thin stripe of glue affixed to the outer edge that faces me. A tiny tobacco envelope. I massage back-and-forth between thumbs and forefingers until the tobacco shrinks into a tight cylindrical bundle. Roll, pinch, roll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32745744984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aesthetics","category-liturgy"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/p2.la-img.com\/632\/29359\/11367158_1_x.jpg\" "\\"bugler\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.oodegr.com\/english\/ekklisia\/eikones\/incense-and-icon.jpg\" "\\"smoke\\""){kind=icon}
Cigarette smoke dances over the surface of my hand, leaving its signature scent on my fingers as it rises and lingers. I don\u2019t think it wise to smoke two or even one pack a day, for reasons more\u00a0economic\u00a0than health-related. And there certainly are health concerns. Real ones. It makes no sense to commit suicide any more than I already do by being alive; there is a delicate distinction between not fearing death and being suicidal.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.retronaut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/514-598x269.jpg\")
<\/p>\n