Happy New Year

    And so after a full year of commitment the Vow of a Nazarite is fully at its close. At midnight January 1st 2013 I had my first drink of alcohol, a glass of Delirium Tremens. After that I enjoyed a couple Blue Moons and nursed a shot of whiskey. I did not get to sleep until four o clock this morning. I haven't done that in a good many number of years. It was so great to be with so many of my friends from different walks of life and celebrate the end of cycle and the beginning of a new one.
   This afternoon Amber and I drove out to L.A. for an appointment with a barber to shave off the beard. Unfortunately, he didn't show up. Amber being the amazing woman she is instantly jumped on Yelp and located a local barbershop at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. We went in and it was like going back in time to an old west barber shop. The young man was very cool and nice and we got right to work. He used clippers to trim down to the skin and we put the clippings into a bag for the final part of the vow which I will probably do this weekend. After the clippers I got a super fancy straight razor shave. The whole bit, too. The hot towel around the head and the cold towel at the end. I got some good smelling aftershave, too. Deluxe treatment style.
    I haven't seen this face in a long time. Its a lot skinnier than it's been in years and I remind myself of myself from ten years ago, but with a lot less hair on my head. I'm still plugging away at the Journey of the Book and now with my Apologetics Bible I'll keep busy for a good long while. This blog is coming to an end, though. The final part of the Vow will be recorded in my own personal account of the year. Here's to a new year and a new chapter of life.

I tried to remember to document the progression of beard, but I forgot after about three months. We did have some chronology though.

January 1, 2012. I had already been growing the beard over the Winter Break. I weighed 175 lbs.

 

    January 29, 2012. After one month the beard was itchy and I was just starting to run consistently. 

February 21, 2012. Around this time we were juicing a lot and I was running a mile every other day. 

        May 5, 2012  This is my favorite beard phase. I think if I got it this long again and was able to keep it cut regularly I could have a pretty sweet beard. I might try for this again in the future.

October 29th 2012.   My beard didn't get much longer than this. I do not have the genetic stability to get a good Moses beard. Its okay, though. At least I know I tried. 

    December 31, 2012. All in all I lost almost 40 lbs and went down two and a half pant sizes.

  January 1, 2013.  All good things must come to an end. The beard is gone, but this clean shaven junk is for the birds. I can't wait to grow back some face fuzz.

For now I'm off to discover if I prefer scotch over bourbon.....

  

Christmas of the Nazarite

Merry Christmas!
         The vow is going strong! I've got six more days left and the anticipation of the clean face and the first of delicious beers and wines and liquors are dancing through my imagination. I am trying to not get too excited about the alcohol aspect because, seriously, this year was about God.
       This Vow of the Nazarite was about me setting aside the year that I've built up in my head over the past twenty years, the year of 'The End of the World'. I've speculated and dreamed and hoped and retired my hope to focus on more important things, but still cautiously watched the world as the date got closer. As 2011 approached its end and I became more aware of myself and my spiritual journey up until this year I decided to make a living sacrifice to the world. I always liked the idea of the Prophets of Yahweh and the crazy shenanigans they pulled in their days. Like when Ezekial tied himself to the ground for over a year, after he made an entire replica of the army of Israel. I dunno I like the drama of it all sometimes.
         Its been a great ride. The date of 12/21/12 arrived and instead of me sitting around waiting for nothing. Instead of hanging out with everyone waiting for nothing to happen and the talk about how we knew nothing was going to happen. Instead of that, for me and my family, the day was blessed. Not just for me and my family, either. For everyone else that shared that day with us, too. Not only did I graduate and get my diploma for years of hard work. Not only did I get to share that accomplishment with my wife and my parents and my brother and my wife's parents and all those that supported and cheered me on, but I also got to give all that glory to my God. Since Biola is a Christian University the ceremony had spiritual overtones to it that I've never seen at a graduation. The God that I know is good and that is ultimately behind every aspect of reality was given the honor and glory on that day, December 21, 2012.
       The concept in my heart and soul is far beyond the measly words that I have to grasp at to convey, but the day was made Holy for some of us that day and I am thankful that God did that for me. Again, words can not express the gratitude I have for the ability to get through this year. Yes, I didn't drink alcohol, and yes I grew my beard out crazy style, and yes I didn't touch or go near a dead person (five more days, fingers crossed). For me, though, I don't feel like I deserve the credit because it was actually pretty easy. It was more of a drastic example of what my life has been up until this point anyways. I just made the commitment and God fulfilled the other end of the bargain. But,that's what this year was about. Giving God, Yahweh, the God of gods, the glory instead of whatever stupid scenario my brain could cook up for the year of 2012.

     Anyways, a Christmas reflection as I try to remember the great I Am, Yahweh, the Lord of all, King of kings and God of gods..... especially with my quickly growing collection of alcohol styled gifts we've received over the last couple days.
     Merry Christmas!

Final Days

     The year is quickly approaching its end. This week is my graduation from Biola and it's crazy to look back at the road of life that has been traveled to get here. As I approach the end of the Vow I see how much can change in one year let alone the four years I've been at Biola. This year alone has seen so much change in my life and in the world.  
     This year has been fantastic on a personal level. When I first started at Biola I was still wrestling with the ideas of Christianity and still not sure if I considered myself one. I was still holding on to the ways of the pagans and Wiccans and didn't want to join the group of Christians becauseto me it represented Ignorance, Fear, Lies and even Hatred. Four years later I am confident in my faith and enjoy learning more about the origins and history surrounding it. I've been re-reading the Bible this year and will continue my Journey Through the Book until I get through it. I am thinking of doing a parallel blog of the New Testament since there are so many refrences and parallels that refer to the Old Testament and at the rate I’m going I’m not sure how long its going to take to get to the New Testament.
      I used to be a voice to challenge the faith and now I use my voice to support and defend it. Its such a 180 from who I was ten years ago when I set out on my life as an adult. This year has really opened me up to the ideas within Christianity and the balance of science and reality that need to be a part of that for a balanced spiritual life. I am still learning and won’t achieve my ultimate goal, true knowledge of God, until I die. Even then I may not know. I don’t worry about the afterlife too much. I try to focus on being a force for the Light in the here and now. What I have enjoyed about this year is that I've really taken on the challenge of bringing up the hard questions of God, and even to a degree Christianity, and presenting these questions to my non-Christian friends. Sometimes they will bring up the questions I've always asked and now I can finally try to answer them. Even if it doesn't change minds I at least can have the knowledge that I know what I believe and not just repeat what I've been told.

Samhain 2012

   October is finished! Woo! Ever since August time has started moving up again. The new job is to blame for that, I'm sure. Its been a blast working at the preschool. The kids all like the beard and are always sad when I tell them that its going to be gone after Christmas time. The beard is now just an annoyance and I can't wait till its gone. I will never be envious of the long beard again. I respect those that do it, and enjoy the fact that they can, but the long beard was not meant for this man. I'm still losing weight, too, it seems. Amber and I haven't taken as many progression pictures as I had hoped, but the recent comparison to myself at the beginning of the year to myself now is pretty funny. It reminded me of Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Ha!
     2012 is not disappointing either. We've got all the goods I've been hearing so much about since I was twelve; crazy earthquakes and weather systems, increased insanity and tension globally on social and economic levels, and so on and so forth. It could just be coincidence with the year 2012 being right around all the time of these big changes. A lot of these problems are as old as the Bible and we are just dealing with them in a modern context. Although, as far as all the crap I've been reading about 2012, I could use a little bit more alien interaction/intervention, but hey I'm happy to get as much as I have. Sheesh, not to mention we have one of the biggest and most controversial elections in our nation's history. Perhaps even more fateful than the 2001 election of George W. Bush! And to top it all off the date of my graduation falls right smack dab on the day that gets the most attention for the date of Change in the world; December 21, 2012. It's like my birthday and Christmas all at once!
    I joke around, but the truth is that things are pretty nuts right now. Politics, economics and even elements of religion are getting to a point where they can not sustain themselves at the rate they are going and must change in order to continue to be functional and relevant. It really does seem that we are poised on the tip of some kind of change. Its a change that's bigger than whoever gets elected as our President because no matter who the man is he is going to have to be a part of that change. Its going to be so interesting to watch 2013.

Especially with a glass of wine in hand.  

Yahweh's Temple

    As I get closer and closer to the end of this journey I am starting to plan and prepare for the final days. I plan to shave my beard as soon after the new year as possible. I am at a stage now where that concept is such a wonderful dream and I can't wait till it is a reality. Its not so much having a beard that is bothering me, but the length. I really just want to give it a nice little trim to clean it up a bit.
    According to the tradition of the Israelites the Nazarite would grow out his hair as well as his beard for the length of the vow. I decided that it would be too difficult socially while taking care of our finances since my job is in childcare and I might be able to get away with a beard, but a year's worth of uncut balding hair? I don't think so. The point of this exercise is not ostracization, but public sacrifice and commitment to my God.
    In the tradition of ancient Israel the Nazarite would come to the Temple at the end of the designated period and the high priest would shave his beard and cut his hair in the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem and then the Nazarite would sacrifice a lamb, a sheep, and a ram for their burnt, sin and peace offering. The cut hair would then be placed along with the offerings on the altar. In modern times the Vow of the Nazarite can not be fully realized and not simply because of socially complicated reasons.
     The main fulfillment of the Vow can not be actualized in modern times because there is no longer a Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem to have the priest cut the hair or burn the sacrifices. I have been praying on this for the last few months to try and figure out a modern way to still keep the ritual of this procedure as Holy as possible. I am planning to shave my beard and keep the shaved whiskers. Then I am going to buy three lamb chops (if I can find ewe and ram chops somewhere even better) and build a little stone altar of my own and burn the chops and clippings on that. It sounds silly, but I love the ritual of things and especially the idea of connecting with an ancient practice of one of the first monotheistic religions. However, I have been a little bummed that there is no modern temple to do it in, even though I'm not Jewish, nor could I conceivably travel to Israel currently.
    And then last night I was doing my Journey Through the Book and I read something in 1 Kings that really hit me. It really hit me as a Christian, let me just say. I'm reading the Bible and currently in 1 Kings I'm at the part where Solomon constructs the very first Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. I was reading the dedication that Solomon gives over the Temple and it struck me that as a Christian I do have access to the modern Temple.
   I remembered that Jesus told the Pharisees that the Temple would be torn down, but that He would raise it up again in three days. The Temple was not destroyed till half a century after his final days on earth and a new one has never been rebuilt. However, I have heard many Christians link Jesus's words there as the indication that He is the new Temple of the new Covenant. It all hit me last night while reading 1 Kings 8:41-51 when Solomon talks about the foreigner who hears of their God, Yahweh, and prays towards the Temple.

⁴¹ “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— ⁴² for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,⁴³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

⁴⁴ “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; ⁴⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; ⁴⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; ⁴⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. ⁵⁰ And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; ⁵¹ for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

All this to say that now I know that when I pray in the name of Jesus just how powerful that is. Not the selfish prayer of control over the circumstances, but the prayer of love and reconciliation that I try to do on a continuous basis.

I don't mean to get preachy, but it is on my mind and I'm glad I got it written down.




Off to work!!!

The Final Leg

     So, tomorrow is the last day of summer. The equinox is on Saturday and that marks the end of just about three quarters of my journey of the Vow of the Nazarite. Except for the hellish month of August the months have seemed to fly by. It was good to be involved in so many productions with the Maverick. I really love those folks and I feel like I've made some really good friends there. Despite the drunken debauchery that rages in that bohemian temple of Theatre I found one of the best foundations of support for my choice to take this journey. The encouragement has been enormous wherever I go. Even Monday night football, which is centered around the holy liquid of that amber coloured beverage Beer, has been understanding and accommodating to my own self imposed abstinence. Even during the draft, when I should have rightly taken at least three penalty shots of some of the foulest cheap whiskey you ever laid nostrils on, someone stepped up to take that shot for me. ::sniff:: Those brave souls. The Drunken Bums stand by their principles. 
     The Journey has been a good one. Health wise I have lost a lot of weight and I feel a lot more energetic than I did a year ago. The beard is really getting long now, and I really want to cut it. In fact, Amber has had to talk me out of shaving it at least twice in the last two weeks. I'm down to the last three months and I'm really starting to look forward to the day after the New Year.
     I've been so busy that I haven't had a lot of time for light reading, but I have managed to make it up to 1 Kings in the Bible, which is only 25% of the way through the whole book, but I'll blaze through the psalms and proverbs most likely and 1&2 Chronicles is mostly just a refresher of 1&2 Kings anyway. I've also been trying to broaden my intake from the spiritual to the non spiritual by reading some books by some prominent atheists. As usual I'm also trying to read a little bit about Islam in order to stay abreast of the world situation, but I haven't tried to read their holy book in years. I remember it was tough to get into and its non linear compilation made it hard to follow. Also, I read in the preface of the book that the translation itself removes the context of the power of it. It may be my project after the Bible, but right now I am more interested in the history of the religion and its beginnings and evolution over time than diving into the writings of their prophet.
      The political situation is reaching its climax, thank Goodness, and its really unnerving to see the state of our country. There is still no sign of a compromise between either side of the political spectrum. I would even say that President Obama has become more divisive than President Bush was at his four year mark. It seems that a lot of the things that Bush did Obama has done as far as foreign policy goes. He has gone after terrorists using drones, sometimes without the permission of the foreign countries that some people swear he wants to see succeed above America. On the domestic front it seems that the blame lies with the congress and not the president. The majority of the House and Senate are the ones that set the tone for the parties. Not the president, if it's a good one, because that person needs to be as neutral as possible.
    Well, that's just my observations anyway. I'll step off my soap box. I know we don't live in a perfect world. Its going to get a lot messier after the elections though. I can feel it. Like a volcano that has been smoking for a couple weeks, or a fault line inching towards a massive shift. The world is a powder keg waiting for a match and these days you don't need to have a high political position to have your finger on the Button. Even a whisper could set the world on fire....

The Longest Month Ever

     It seems like the time has been flying this year. Before I knew it we were entering into the month of August and another school year was just around the corner. However, this month has seemed like an eternity compared with the first half of the year. For the first six months of the vow I was involved in two productions back to back. First we had The Legend of Robin Hood which began rehearsals in January. That was a lot of fun and with work and Biola keeping me occupied I didn't have a lot of time to miss the alcohol. Right after that we went into rehearsals for the Hobbit. Even with the copious amounts of alcohol flowing back stage after the shows I was having so much fun and so preoccupied with people that I love that I seemed to breeze through the first half of this thing like nobody's business.
   Then August hit and the brakes slammed on tight.
    Not for any bad reasons, mind you. In fact, there have been some really great things going on in life these last few months. First of all the school I interviewed for in my previous blog ended up really liking me and asked me to be their new full time pre-school teacher. Also, I was able to get into some accelerated courses to get my Early Childhood Education credits so I can be more marketable as a teacher once I graduate in December. I've already knocked one out this past weekend and I've got another one this weekend. I've also been finishing up my Spanish II class and after this week will only have one final course of Spanish that will be complete by the first week of October.
    The down side to all of this is the fact that I don't start my new job till the first of September. Also, the first week of August Amber was gone for the week and it made the days even longer and more boring. Since August is the brokest month for Amber and I the only thing available for me to do is homework or watch netflix. I don't think I've ever wanted to be able to drink more in this whole Nazarite vow than I have this month. I've been strong though and able to resist that Gentleman Jack up on the top shelf just waiting for me. Mostly, I know that by now my body will probably not be pleased with me after drinking and the experience will not be one that I will enjoy as much as I think. Also, I know how disappointed in myself I would be since I've come this far.
    The beard is starting to bother me now. Its really long and bushy now and its been really hot lately. Strangely, its not my face that seems to soak up the heat. Mostly its my neck. Its like constantly wearing a turtle neck on only the front half of your body. I will say, though, the bald head has been very nice during this heat.
    I do find myself really looking forward to January more these days than I did a few months back.