CIGARETTE SMOKE

"Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way to salvation - an aroma redolent with life"  2 Corinthians 2: 16, The Message

I love the smell of cigarette smoke, particularly Salem cigarettes. I think it's because a family member smoked that brand when I was a child and the smell reminds me of being a kid.

It's funny how the societal perception of smokers has so drastically changed over the last couple of decades. Now when I walk past the designated smoking area in the airport, I immediately rush to hyper-judgement of the 'dirty' smokers with their 'dirty' cigarettes huddled together in their glass chamber of addiction. In our modern caste system of addictions, cigarette smokers are at the bottom of the pile...the lepers.

I have a pretty good idea of how God feels about cigarettes overall but I suspect that there is one particular type of cigarette smoke that God may actually like. It's the cigarette smoke that you smell outside of any addiction recover meeting.

On Tuesday nights, when I used to lead worship for our college worship service in Buffalo, and as I would leave each week, I would see the recovery crowd hanging out in the parking lot of our church because they had just wrapped up their meeting. Not everyone was smoking but at least a few normally were and I loved the smell of their smoke because of what it represents. It's a step forward...it represents getting up one more time after getting knocked down... it represents the transition of going from a greater and more destructive addiction such as cocaine or alcohol to a lesser and more non-consequential addiction such as cigarettes.

I know that God's ultimate design is that we not be addicted to anything but, in a fallen world, sometimes, we just have to take it one step at a time.  And whether it's being addicted to alcohol or approval, sex or success, pills or pride, we're all in a fight to get free.  I'm sure in their journey to freedom, there will be a place where they realize that they need to be free of their need for cigarettes but for now, the odor of their smoke will be the aroma of little and daily battles fought that lead to sweet and great victories.