Beyond Baptists

Cloves, originally uploaded by camille94019.

I am continuing to wear my figurative God-Abundance-Goggles. This is my latest find. I went to the Cafe Perg bathroom, and lo, I found this box of clove cigarettes waiting for me on the top of the paper towel dispenser. Cafe Perg has become our Boo Radley tree. I always feel very anxious about making any statements about God. Two days ago I would have thought that God didn't like smoking, but maybe its not that cut-and-dried (He did give us tobacco and lung cancer). I haven't run into any scriptures prohibiting it. CS Lewis smoked and drank, and that hardly makes him a bad man.

I always thought that smoking was somehow sinful. I sublimated all those years of American Lung Association propaganda into a spiritual dictum.

After Pergs, I tumbled home and found my housemateys waiting for me on the big futon.
"Its past your bedtime!" they cried facetiously.
"Do you have a smoke?" the T-beast asked.
For the first time in my entire life, I said, "yes." I dug them out of my purse and passed them to her.
"Do you want to go onto the porch and take a puff with me?" she asked.

How could I say no? I followed her out. She lit one and I took a drag (but I didn't inhale).
"These are the lickey-lip kind," she advised. I licked my lips, and the flavor was delightful. I loved the sound of the words "lickey-lip," it described the sensation.