One by one they look into the camera and talk of their family, their
roots, their heritage. “I’m British”, “I’m Pakistani”, “I’m Icelandic”, “I’m
Cuban” we hear them say.
They are part of a large, diverse group gathered in an auditorium to talk
about their nationalities and heritage. At the end of the conversation the
moderators ask all those gathered, “Would you dare to ask the question as to
who you really are?” The moderators
then invite the participants to have their DNA sampled to provide a more complete
picture of each person’s roots.
One response was typical: “what could you possibly tell me that I don’t
already know?” But then, two weeks later, when that same person read the
results of his testing, he was stunned. He had been adamant that his roots were
firmly, almost exclusively British, but the DNA testing showed that he was only
about one third British; he had roots that came from a host of other countries,
cultures, and nationalities.
That man’s results were typical. As one respondent said in amazement, “I’m
from everywhere!” They realized that for as different as they all were, they
were, in a way, all related, all cousins. They realized they had more in common
than things that separated them.
The name “Ferguson” has a long history in Scotland; my family and I have
always spoken proudly of our Scot heritage. Clan Ferguson –or more properly,
Fergusson - has both an ancient and a modern tartan, a crest, and a motto,
“Sweeter after Adversity”.
Yet now the question is before me: what would my DNA testing show? Would
it show what we’ve always assumed: that we are a mix of Scot and British, or
are we a broader, deeper mix? The obvious answer is that I should have my DNA
tested. So that is what is what I plan to do. I’ve ordered a kit from a service
and I look forward to learning the results later in the summer. I’ll certainly
share them with all!
We are all of us proud Americans, and we are all of us proud of our roots
from other cultures. But the woman in the video who responded, “I’m from everywhere”
had it right. We are all from everywhere, and we are all, ultimately, tied
together, all of us cousins, if we trace our roots back far enough.
A participant in the video gazed seriously at her results and then looked
at the moderators and said, “This should be compulsory. There would be no such
thing as extremism if people understood their real heritage”. She’s right - we
would see that we are all indeed part of God’s family.
Grace & peace,
Pastor Skip
