Route 66: The Chronicles

Recently, I watched an episode of The Waltons, the story of a family in Virginia during the 30s and 40s. It contains a fair amount of history of that time period mixed in the with the joys and struggles found in the everyday life of any family. This particular segment called 'The Family Tree' tells the story of one of the Walton's neighbors, a African American woman named Verdie and her search for her identity. She confessed that because she knew nothing of her history she felt as though she was just floating without the grounding factor of legacy. She wanted the roots family history brings.

Perhaps that is why God takes time again to remind us we come from somewhere.  Notice I say 'we' because this family tree listed in 1 Chronicles is ours. I think if we take time to realize this, too, is our history then perhaps it will have more meaning to us.  As Christians, this is our legacy, the place we come from. Our people.

 I think most of us of have some sense of our personal history. We can track our family tree at less a few generations back. It provides us a road map along with hopefully a few good stories about where we came from. My husband's own grandfather was a Swedish immigrant who came through Ellis Island with saxophone in hand. He settled in Boston and married into the family whose ancestor was General Pickering of the Revolutionary War. Somehow knowing these things gives me a feeling of longevity and belonging.

For Verdie of The Waltons, her search lead her to the knowledge her people we slaves of a once prominent family in the area who before that lived their lives on the African continent.They had names. They came from somewhere. She discovered her story and in turn, it grounded her soul.

For us, the same is true as we realize these accounts found in the Bible belong to us as much as they do to Israel. Our story has been one in the making since the beginning of time, back when our people, Adam and Eve, began their lives in the garden of Eden. They extend down through time to the birth of our Savior, Jesus and even beyond through the early church and even even revealing whats to come in our future.These stories are personal so as you read the lists of names recount the tales of those who came before because they are our great, great, great granddaddies, after all.