And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Well...today I leave the all the comforts and pleasures that exist here in my beautiful Southern California home life to embark on a journey through India. I have spent the last year of life doing a great deal of "seeking", and this trip is an extension of this search. I am not searching for God, for I know He exists anywhere and everywhere. I am not searching for myself, for I know that God has made me and that I have a purpose. I am not searching for a companion being that I have a beautiful girlfriend who embodies true love : ) SO...What in the world am I searching for?!
To be honest I dont think this journey is that of a "soul-search", but rather a pilgrimage in which I will seek with all my heart and being to follow the path God has set out for me. Each soul is here for a greater purpose, and I am determined to find mine. I believe my searching days are over because God has found me long ago when I was young. Now the goal is not to find the Divine, for it exists in everything at all times, but to CONNECT with the Divine. I hope and pray that as this journey takes place, my heart and mind will be moved into spaces and situations I have never experienced.
Setting this trip up was much harder than anticipated, but I think that will only add to the pay off in the lessons and experiences gathered. I have spent the last month trying to "be here now", but have struggled with my perception of how this future journey would be. Now, on the day of my departure, its all starting to catch up! The importance of tools like breath, posture, and prayer come into great use on a journey of this kind. I spent a sleepless last night at my parents house fearing the long flight, the language barriers, getting sick, getting lost, and the possibility of feeling generally uncomfortable in a new situation. It wasnt until a conversation with God this morning that I felt at ease. It struck me that there is to be no fear in order for this journey to really change me. If I spent the trip worrying, anticipating, and possibly fearing the unknown then I might miss the experience with the only one worthy of being feared. I am confident that everything happens for a reason, even things like pain and death. I was feeling like I might have nothing to comfort and combat these woes, but as I read my Bible this morning, it lit up! For me, the Bible is the Word, and this morning God showed me that the Word is my comfort. In his perfect Word I find comfort, healing, directions, and most of all I find HOME. I finally felt that calm this morning that I have been searching for the last month of setting up flights and reading travel blog after travel blog. I feel God's presence and hope to stay in this light for the whole of the trip. My woes of traveling are at a minimum now and I am greatly looking forward to this 11 weeks of EXPERIENCE.
Thank you to you friends and family who have supported this journey of the soul for me not only mentally, but financially as well. You will all be in my daily thoughts and prayers. I hope that you can share in my joy of this encounter with God and the experiences in which I share with you. I will do my best to update this blog with the happenings in India and the matters deeper in my heart that coexist. I am looking forward to spending this trip with an amazing friend and brother, Mike Shook, whom is an old soul and whose actions and writings in the last few years of astrangedness have truly inspired me and lifted my faith. Please keep your eyes on the path, and the prayer in your heart, and I will do my damndest to do the same. In His Grace-Russ

Psalm 119:105- Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.