Cigars and Solitude
// January 24th, 2009 // Christian Living
I’ve always enjoyed a good hand-rolled cigar (not the machine-made Swisher Sweets at the grocery store), but this year my awesome wife got me a humidor and some nice cigars for Christmas. It’s a great little hobby, combining the nerdiness of collecting things and the pleasure of the taste of a good stogie.
What I’ve discovered, however, is that what I enjoy the most about the whole cigar thing is that it has given me an excuse to spend some time in solitude. Though Heather will let me smoke a cigar in the house now and then, I find that it’s not the same. What I really enjoy is sitting on the back porch in a chair after the sun goes down and just being still. Just me, my brain, Jesus, and fine South American long-leaf tobacco. And, in case you were wondering, Jesus doesn’t mind the smoke at all.
I’ve realized that in the past year or so of my life I’ve allowed busyness and, yes, even ministry to crowd out the solitude in my life. I’m so “connected” all the time that I never manage to unplug and unwind. I forget that even Jesus pulled away from the crowds sometimes to be by Himself. I remember that as a teenager, I used to go hunting with my older brother all the time. Shooting guns while wearing Realtree camo was cool and all, but what I really enjoyed about it was the quiet of the woods… the solitude. I got a lot of thinking done in those woods.
Before you roll your eyes at me and say, “Cmon, Ben. Can’t a cigar just be a cigar?” Yeah, yeah, but think about this. When was the last time you experienced real silence? No iPod, iPhone, iKids, iWife, etc. Just quiet. I submit to you that if it’s been more than a couple weeks, something has gone wrong.
We need to think more. We need to dream more. We need to take time more often to reflect on our lives, who we are, who God is, and where we’re going. That stuff matters! It matters because those times become the compass for what we do during the times of activity.
So what do you do for solitude? How often do you get it? Lay it on us in the comments.
Cmon, Ben. Can’t a cigar just be a cigar? Anyway – I think I have been subverted into being uncomfortable in silence during the normal day. Must have my mind distracted by something. However, I find my time comes in the wee hours of the morning when I wake up too early to get up, but can't sleep.
I wish my time could be in the morning. I'm always too much of a zombie, though. ;-)
I kind of feel guilty for saying this, but I often find my solitude in just turning my cochlear implant OFF. Even when I am alone, I sometimes find guilty pleasure in being "deaf." I mean REALLY deaf – where I don't hear the A/C, my cat's purring, the refrigerator running, or even my own breathing. It's amazing how calm I become during those periods of complete silence. And I have to be careful because I can use this as an unhealthy excuse to withdraw into my own solitary shell (and I do like solitude) or I can use this time to meditate and center myself in God. I must admit, it is nice to have the best of both worlds – the hearing and the "nonhearing". However, I have never tried the cigar thing, though, noo…
I can't imagine what that sensation must be like. To turn a switch and have everything go totally silent. I think it's really cool that you have found a blessing in the misfortune of losing your hearing. Very cool perspective.
In the winter, my solitude comes in the form of hot English Breakfast tea, curled up on the couch with a blanket and the Bible, with a lamp behind me. In the summer, it's a bottle of Sam Adams Summer Ale on the back deck at sundown. It's interesting how the hot drink in the winter and the cold drink in the summer help me get to a place of focus and stillness.
Add a stogie to the Summer Ale and now your talkin'!
Whats solitude? I really need prayer. I hate to say, I get quiet time maybe once a year at the Beach where i just sit on some warm sand and just amazed of Gods aww, so there is some of us still working on SOLITUDE!
It's definitely something that takes work to make happen. I think that's why God made such a big deal about the Sabbath. He knows that we HAVE to rest – on purpose, not just rest because there's nothing to do – rest BECAUSE there's so much to do!
Happily we're not bound to any law, so you're not going to come into judgement for not resting, but I think God knows you need it, so He will help you find a way to win the battle for solitude.
Right on! The “battle for solitude” is a battle I don't mind fighting…
I have precious little solitude these days. I either working, or tending to the kids, talking to God as I go. Every now and then, when I have time to really think out a blog post, write and pray, I lock myself in the office (when Judd's here, of course) Writing helps me hear from God.
But I can assure you I'll NOT be lighting up a stogie! I did try chewing tobacco on a whim in college, almost fainted. My grandpa smoked cigars his whole life, and …well, I won't tell you the rest! :)
Ok, what you're really talkin' bout, it seems to me, is the practice of meditation. Not TM, of course, but David under the tree with his lyre meditating away on the wonder of God.
I choose daily solitude and indulge in a variety of supports, though never a foul smelling cigar. (Sorry, Ben, but that rancorous odor does help you gain your solitude I suspect.) If no supports are available, God still is. Drawing near does not even require the effort of prayer; you know, as good a thing as prayer is, it is not the all in all just being with Him is.
I get up before anyone else in the house. Solitude. What's more, usually there are not calls or other interruptions to the quiet. The price I pay is a need to go to bed before anyone else is ready. Small price for a big payoff. Some days I get in two periods of solitude. The second one is a good long walk or bike ride, when the whole world melts into the noise around me, and I may lose myself in the wonder of adoring Him for nothing other than the pleasure of filling my mind and releasing my feelings all upon Jesus.
Hey, one man's “rancorous odor” is another man's bliss…
no doubt