Chapter Eleven: Conclusion
When I first shared my interest in the Nazirite Vow with
some of my colleagues the response was less than enthusiastic. Some of them
worried that I was providing Jews with a way to opt out of more traditional
Jewish observance. Others felt I was stretching the Nazirite tradition beyond
the breaking point. Still others thought I was just fiddling while Rome burned:
people are too lazy even to bother with my revisioned Nazirite Vow.
I am used to criticism, though I never like receiving it.
Yet I was surprised that no rabbinic friends thought this was as brilliant an
idea I did. But then again, it was my idea. So I am unsure as to how you
received the challenge of the Nazirite Vow yourself.
I wrote this book for those who are too busy to go on
retreat, and too tied to work, school, and/or family to free themselves from
their communal obligations. I thought, and still think, that the Nazirite Vow
is a way to engage everyday life as an ordinary mystic. And it is more ordinary
mystics that the world so desperately needs.
An ordinary mystic is a person who sees the relative world
of mochin d’katnut as a place to live out the seven qualities of holiness
experienced by mochin d’gadlut.
An ordinary mystic is
a person whose ties to religion may be strong or weak, but whose yearning for
God is powerful and compelling.
An ordinary mystic is a person who may or may not have time
for disciplined spiritual practice, but who can shape a period of time around
the ideals symbolized by the slogan “no bars, no barbers, no morgues.”
An ordinary mystic is a person who longs to see self and
other as reflections of the One. I am an ordinary mystic. I trust that you are
as well. I find I the Nazirite Vow keys to living out both our ordinariness and
our mysticism. I hope that you find this to be true as well.
My prayer is that you continue to experiment with the
Nazirite Vow, shaping it to suit your own character and situation, and allowing
it to shape you in accord with the seven qualities of holiness.
May your life we full of wonder and free of unnecessary
drama. May you listen to both Yetzer haRah and Yetzer haTov without getting
caught up in either. May you honor both the narrow and the spacious in you, and
come to them both as manifestations of God.
2 comments:
I've really enjoyed this material. I like the way you're interpreting the substance of the traditional nazirite vow, and I recognize in myself places of resistance to these teachings (which mean that I probably need to try them on for a while -- that resistance is usually a sign that I'm avoiding something I should be working on.)
Kol hakavod.
Re "...it is more ordinary mystics that the world so desperately needs."
I couldn't agree more! I've enjoyed this series and think I've learned a lot from it. I know it's a forthcoming book and will probably buy it when it comes out, just to have all the insight and information in one place.
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