Sunday, October 4, 2026
SMOKE IN THIS LIFE, NOT THE NEXT Sun, Oct 4 — Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost / St. Francis of Assisi Cigar: Rustic Broadleaf Pour: Buffalo Trace Reflection: Simplicity restores the soul. Paul’s insistence on our former death is not morbid; it is medicinal. He speaks with the clarity of a man who has seen the grave from the inside. In Ephesians he says we were dead in trespasses and sins. In Colossians he repeats it, adding the uncircumcision of the flesh. In Romans he expands the image, describing the fruit of death borne in our bodies. Paul is not layering metaphors. He is naming a condition. Before Christ, we were not spiritually sluggish or morally confused. We were dead to God, incapable of life, incapable of love, incapable of obedience. The corpse cannot revive itself; it can only be raised. This is why simplicity restores the soul. Francis understood that resurrection requires space. A man cluttered with possessions, ambitions, and self‑importance cannot...
