Happy New Year

 Happy 2026 to all!

Merry Christmas!

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

Source:

Luke 2:1-7, NRSVUE 

Happy Hanukkah!

52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, 53 they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. 54 At the very season and on the very day that the nations had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed heaven, who had prospered them. 56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. 57 They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests and fitted them with doors. 58 There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the nations was removed.

59 Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.


Source:

1 Maccabees 4:52-59, NRSVUE 

Searching and finding God

I pray that everyone is doing well. In this post I am simply sharing an article that I read this week, which I found to be quite moving. Obviously, one can anticipate a bit from the title I have chosen. I will not go into much detail explaining because I want everyone to read and discover. I hope you enjoy it. Blessings and simply follow the link below to access.

An Israeli Intelligence Officer’s Search for God | Aish

Reference:

https://aish.com/an-israeli-intelligence-officers-search-for-god/?src=ac

Are we ready for faith?

Now faith is the assurance (reality) of things hoped for, the conviction (evidence) of things not seen....

- Epistle to the Hebrews

Personal note: can we imagine that?

On Enoch

Recently, I watched a Joe Rogan podcast in which he interviewed United States Representative, Anna Paulina Luna. I remember hearing her mention the Book of Enoch several times throughout. Although, the main topic of discussion was about UFOs and UAPs. Rep. Luna is Chairwoman on the House Oversight Committee Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. Moreover, one can learn more by reading the following article at the following link.

https://oversight.house.gov/release/luna-opens-hearing-on-restoring-public-trust-through-uap-transparency/

Also, one can watch the Rogan podcast with her at the following link.

https://youtu.be/v-yPOBaYDOo?si=s2B45kS9jZYpBxbu

But why Enoch? I will answer that soon. I was reading the material the Representative was referring to on Rogan about Enoch already when she was probably still in her early teens. Enoch was the seventh patriarch from Adam before the flood. In the Book of Genesis in Bible, we read that Enoch lived 365 years. Genesis reads that, he was not; for God took him. The Book of Hebrews said that Enoch did not see death. We really have very little else with relevance to Enoch.

However, in the Epistle of Jude in the New Testament, we get a little more. Jude quotes Enoch in verses 14 and 15, but we do not have the texts Jude references in our western canon (our Bible). So, where are the words taken from? Many scholars agree that the text in Jude are taken from the Book of Enoch (Enoch 1). There are three apocryphal books attributed to Enoch (Enoch 1, 2, and 3). These books may not be in our Bible, but the Ethiopian canon does contain them, which the Representative knew about. Seemingly, Jude also had copies of the Enoch manuscript back in the first century, and St. Athanasius kept Jude in the canon for a reason. Of course, he was a bother of James and very likely a brother of Jesus himself. If you want to know about Jesus’ siblings, there is mention of them in the Gospel of Mark 6:3. Obviously, there is way more to Enoch than we are often led to believe, but this is just a brief post designed to encourage everyone to do more research on the subject. Now, back to  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

Why did she mention Enoch so much? Well, when one reads the apocryphal text, at a certain point it sounded as if Enoch was describing that he was taken onboard of a spaceship, but I am going to stop here and leave it up to you. Take some time and read for yourself at the following link.

https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM

 

 

 

References:

https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM

https://oversight.house.gov/release/luna-opens-hearing-on-restoring-public-trust-through-uap-transparency/

https://youtu.be/v-yPOBaYDOo?si=s2B45kS9jZYpBxbu

 

 

 

Legacy?

Since I was a child, I have heard the word legacy tossed about here and there. I have personally known people who have said they would like to leave a name for themselves when they pass away. Of course, I don’t recall ever challenging the idea, but it did and does make me question why? I have always wondered how they would even follow up on whether they are remembered or not. I suppose the only ones who could confirm this question are those who have already passed on.

This post is basically a meditation on this idea of leaving a legacy. I will keep it brief and share a couple of scriptures with relevance to perhaps make a case for the idea. The first verse is the following from Genesis 6:4, NRSVUE.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

My question here is who were these “heroes that were of old” that existed before the flood of Noah? It seems we don't know their names. Or perhaps we don't have the manuscript which contained their names. We only know about Noah and his family from the same chapter. We don’t really have a specific timeline in the scriptures that even tells us when the flood took place. Perhaps it was ten thousand years ago, or twenty thousand years. We just don’t know. We do not know the names of many people who have lived and died on our planet who came before us.

Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible Ketuvim (Writings) contain a verse that relates to the subject in this post, which perhaps answer the questions I have brought forth. Ecclesiastes 1:11, NRSVUE, reads as follows:

The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.

I don’t know if the foregoing verse answers any questions you may have with relevance to leaving a legacy and making a name for oneself. The verse, however, does answer my questions. Perhaps one can establish a huge presence in the present moment in time, and for a while after one is gone, but eventually there will be no lasting memory. Leaving a legacy? Good luck with that!