Puzzles, Genes, and Names

I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Isaiah 44:6

Paul wrote: I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. Ephesians 3:14–15

REFLECTION:
One of the most interesting presents given us to us on the day of our wedding was a genealogy, provided by my father's cousins. That genealogy details the Mennonite, Dutch, French, and English roots on my father's side. The names I see in genealogy include Bowles and Short.

While I have never done a genealogy of my mother's side, the stories that are told tell me I have many ancestors from Germany, including one man who made his way into Canada and then swam across the Detroit river to get into the United States illegally. The names I see on this side of my family are Bibb and Hachman.

What's fascinating to me is that if you were to do a DNA test on me, I am actually made up of all these people...there are pieces of them, however small, in me. On a genetic level, I am quite literally a puzzle made up of their pieces. I take my physical traits from them...and I take my name from them.

The passages today remind me that those puzzle pieces all began somewhere else...that if I were able to trace my genealogy back far enough, I would see names like "The Merciful One," "Love," and "Prince of Peace" (all names used for God in the Scriptures).

Today, my simple prayer for all of us is that we may remember where we came from...that we may honor the rich history of our human genealogy, but that we may also live into the divine names we carry. May we be people of Mercy, Love, and Peace.

PRAYER:
God, you created us to be images of you. May that image shine through us today so that it is not us who others see, but your mercy...your love...your peace. Amen.