Article July 5, 1999 Issue

What does God have to do with quitting smoking?

By Ronald Gray Walker

When I began my wartime service, I was not a smoker. But thinking that cigarette smoking might help me become more sociable, I began to smoke as an experiment. Instead of helping me socialize more easily, however, it made me feel that I was betraying myself by engaging in a habit that was uncharacteristic of me. And I felt that because I was being false to myself I was also being false to others. My experiment showed me that I couldn't rely on smoking in order to gain truly meaningful friendships.

I realized that abstaining from smoking didn't have to be based on self-will.

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