It was my first visit to a new doctor. I was pregnant with my third child, so he wanted to know my medical history.
As I recited the litany of childhood diseases, the rare occasions I had been hospitalized and the details of my other pregnancies, the doctor took notes. Then he asked, "Where are you from, originally?"
"Ontario," I admitted.
"And your parents?"
"The Ottawa Valley."
"What about your grandparents?"
I was beginning to wonder what this had to do with my medical history, but answered. "I think my grandfather was born in Ireland, but I'm not sure. It may have been my great-grandfather."
The doctor smiled. "I knew it," he said. "I could . . .
It was my first visit to a new doctor. I was pregnant with my third child, so he wanted to know my medical history.
As I recited the litany of childhood diseases, the rare occasions I had been hospitalized and the details of my other pregnancies, the doctor took notes. Then he asked, "Where are you from, originally?"
"Ontario," I admitted.
"And your parents?"
"The Ottawa Valley."
"What about your grandparents?"
I was beginning to wonder what this had to do with my medical history, but answered. "I think my grandfather was born in Ireland, but I'm not sure. It may have been my great-grandfather."
The doctor smiled. "I knew it," he said. "I could hear it in your voice."
I was amazed. Those roots went back three generations or more and I considered my self an un-hyphenated Canadian, so it was a surprise to know there was still something that tied me so strongly to my origins.
Recently scientists announced a discovery that astonished the world. They had succeeded in mapping the genetic code, unraveling the secrets of the blueprint of human kind. They were stunned to discover the genetic code of all humans is incredibly similar. In fact, they stated that it appeared all humankind had descended from the same source. We are all, indeed, brothers and sisters.
Of course, we already knew that. At least, those who have read the book of Genesis knew it. Genesis 1:27 says:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
That is our ancestry, our beginning point. The rest of Genesis, indeed, the rest of the Bible, is our history. We can take it personally. The pattern of life laid out in its pages, the heroism and the villainy, the glory and the debauchery, the victory and the defeat, all of it is part of who we are. And it shows. There is something in us, something as subtle as the faint tinge of Irish brogue the doctor heard in my voice, connecting us to our origins.
We feel the pull of it now and then. We have know the truth of it, even if we have never read Genesis. We know who we are. We know who our Father is.
Why, then do we deny it? Why have we tried so hard to invent an alternate history? The answer, again, is in Genesis. Adam and Eve disobeyed their Father. They hid from Him and He was forced to remove them from their protected environment. Sin had invaded mankind's history, and our rejection of God became a common theme.
But there is more, there is hope. "... just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." (Romans 5:18). Jesus, our ancestor, our brother, was also our Saviour.
The truth is in us. Why deny it?
Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and freelance writer living in Alberta Canada. Her devotional book, The Spur of the Moment has been endorsed by Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and others. To order, and to view more of Marcia's writing, see her web site - www.vinemarc.com
Copyright Marcia Lee Laycock, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006