So, I have decided on January 5th as the ending date for my vow. I am planning on taking the clippers to work to have my clients do the honors of the head shave. I am working with adults with developmental disabilities. I realized a month or so ago that if I showed up to work with no hair one day I might cause some turmoil with a group of people who survive on their routines. My solution (we'll see) is to have them do the haircut portion of my transition out of Nazariety.
As far as the rest of wrapping up the vow, I need to do some serious thinking in the next couple weeks. I want to figure out some of the sacraficial elements of ending the vow. I've run into a couple snags in my original plan. The Suburban I intended to sign over to my friend, Darel now has a blown out transmission. I am thinking that giving it to him may not be as exciting for him as it would be sacrificial for me. As far as the tools go, I have a pile of things collected in my garage (admittedly not as many as I had hoped). The only problem is that winter in Durango is not exactly garage sale season and my stuff doesn't really amount to much in the ebay universe. I am wondering if giving it all away might be a better option--even though that doesn't do much for the Hotchkiss family who I intended to donate the proceeds to.
I am currently racking my brain to try and come up with ideas of what I could give as meaningful sacrifice in ending this vow. I want to do something because I am grateful for the opportunity to do this and I feel that God has shown me some things in this process that have changed and shaped me.
hello, my name is Renae Goysich, and I live in Springdale, Pa. I am a nurse, a pastors daughter, a wife, mother, and grand mother. I am studying to get my pastors license so I can goto the mission field. Anyway, on my way home from Trinidad last week I was studying the Bible regarding self control, and God showed me the nazarite vow. I wondered if there was a way to modernize it, so I went to the internet and found your blog! I sat down and read the entire story, and all I can say, is wow!
ReplyDeleteI realize you did this a few years ago, but is it still impacting your life? I am getting ready to undertake this journey, and I'm a little worried that I may have too much vanity!
if you happen to see this, let me know!
thanks!
Renae, let me just say how excited I am that you would consider taking something like this on. It has now been some time since I did my version of the vow and it continues to be milestone and great influence in my life. It was an amazing experience to "set myself apart" to God for a time. I honestly believe that God honors any effort we make to draw close to him.
DeleteThe opposition I got was uniquely from anonymous people trolling the internet looking to tear me down. The most common objection seems to be that, in the traditional vow, the process of ending it takes place in the temple that no longer exists. Apparently, there are those who feel that this means we cannot truly observe the Nazarite vow. I suppose that could be one way of seeing it, however, I have found that my experience of using the vow as a structure and setting for my own process of giving God six months of my life far and away eclipses any legalistic and fear-based perspectives on Nazarite vows. Here is my humble advice upon reflection on my experience:
1. Do it. You will not regret setting aside a portion of your life-no matter how small-to focus on your love and worship of God.
2. Don't take yourself too seriously. The context of the Nazarite vow is prefect for this kind of exercise in faith. It is, however, an adaptation of the original vow, so it needs to be approached with a level of humility and the understanding that there will be people who disapprove and condemn you for it. Don't go out and get a tattoo that says, "I'm a Nazarite", but don't let the religious killjoys get to you either.
3. Follow through. While you shouldn't take yourself too seriously, you can take very seriously the idea of setting yourself apart to God. Whatever you set out to do, make sure you follow your plan to the letter--not out of fear of some horrible judgement, but out of a sincere desire to offer something precious and valuable to God.
I really hope you go through with this and that it is as fulfilling an experience as I had. Please keep me posted about how it goes!
Chip
I join with the woman above -- thank you for doing this. I've been off and on with a Nazarite Vow for many years, and thanks to a recently discovered allergy to grapes (!) I believe it is a lifestyle I'm expected to stay on, to some point, for the rest of my life. One comment about ending the vow, sacrifices in the tempe are no longer needed because the Ultimate Sacrifice has already been accomplished. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog. I feel that God had called me to take the Nazarite via as well. Frankly, I didn't know anything about it other than the Samson stories in Sunday School. I distinctly heard the Holy Spirit say that God still calls people out to be Nazarites. I kept find to figure out what a modern day version would look like. I am going to study your blog and try to pull out what I believe God is calling me to do. Thank you!
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