In 1674 King James I of England wrote and published “King James, His Counterblast to Tobacco”, a treatise on the damage that smoking tobacco caused. He asserted that the practice was harmful to the lungs, mouth, and discolored the teeth. It fouled the breath and made a person smell bad and unpleasant in company. He was forceful in his arguments, but the effect on his people was to make fun of their monarch and consider him eccentric for his ideas. Tobacco smoking was popular and even considered medicinal by his citizens. James was ridiculed for his ideas.

In 1896 New York City passed an anti-expectoration ordinance forbidding spitting tobacco in public places and on public transportation. It came under a great deal of resistance: citizens declared the rule, a law of cruelty against a “natural impulse.” It was said that it curtailed individual freedoms, and granted the government too much power. Spitting tobacco had been acceptable behavior for men indoors and out and on all forms of public and private transportation. It was argued that the health “benefits” of spitting outweighed the threat of the spread of tuberculosis.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the this world, . . . the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived . . . at one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts… But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by Grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. ( Ephesians 2: 1-8)

Every generation offers examples of our need for penetrating truth and understanding. Today there are countless disagreements over almost every aspect of “civilized” life. Through the thick smoke of misunderstanding and foolishness, God sends us His word in clarity and in love. The call to us is from our creator, full of truth and a harbor for our spirits in the midst of confusion: For the word of the Lord is alive and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Love in Him,

Prue