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.