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| Think about it. This means each of us has nearly 8 billion other cousins spread all over the planet. Too many are targeted as our enemies, and millions are homeless and in desperate need of. |
I'd like to recommend our expanding on that exercise, so that whenever we meet even a stranger we assume a common ancestry, and look for all of the ways we might share a common DNA and common roots, based on the conviction that "God has made of one blood all people on earth."
Since this is so, then we are literally cousins of every other human being on earth.
Someone has said, "You can choose your friends, but you're stuck with your relatives." But the fact is, your friends are also your relatives, as are all of your enemies.
That means that someone like Donald Trump, whom I regard as neither an enemy nor an actual friend, is nevertheless a part of my extended family. And since I and the Trumps each have German ancestors, it means we are even more closely related than I am to most people on the planet.
I am also related to all of Mr. Trump's supporters, including those who stormed the capitol building in January 6 and those who continue to insist the last election was stolen from him. And I also share cousin status with all other human beings everywhere, all 7 billion of whom are my blood relatives, literally all of them. And if we searched an Ancestry.com site with enough data, we could actually figure out just how we are connected.
What difference should that awareness make? Shouldn't it mean that we seek ways of showing love and celebrating kinship with each other, sharing with our kinfolk in need, setting aside our weapons and resolving our family differences and conflicts?
And let's go about arranging for some long overdue family reunions. Our Creator would like that.
...my family tree is certainly larger than I'm aware of, but my family is smaller than many. My mother and father were only children and my mother was adopted. She never had an interest in learning about her birth family. My paternal grandfather died when my father was a young boy and my adoptive maternal grandfather died with I was young. I never knew a grandfather, just my two loving grandmothers. Aunts, uncles and cousins were never a part of my life. I often envy my many Amish friends. Harvey who is my age at last count had 90 some odd grandchildren, 10 of who are named Harvey. We are blessed with 3 children and 5 grandchildren. The thought of being related to Trump is something that I have never given any thought to and will try to put it out of my mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Harvey is related to me! And so are you, which makes me happy. :-)
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