November 21, 2022 (My dad would be 106 years old today )
Good afternoon,”
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham… ” — Matthew 1:1
This gives us the end of the story in the first sentence of the Gospel. Jesus is the Messiah, the awaited person from the various prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Matthew begins his biography of the Messiah with the names of Jesus’ descendants. He connects Jesus from Abraham through Solomon and onto the Babylonian exile and ends up with Joseph and Mary. It means very much in Palestinian society to be connected to your history ( I guess Mennonites, Catholic and Lutherans are no different ).
I am trying to write my history or memoir. I am beginning with my mom and dad. My dad was born in 1916 and my mom in 1919. There were traumatic events during the first years of both of their lives. I think that trauma was passed on through either their DNA, or their speaking and not speaking about those events. So, how did these events influence who I am as a person of faith? When I get to really writing it, how will it turn out, a positive story ? How will the traumatic events of the the 1910’s play out for me?
When Jesus was asked about Matthew’s genealogy, I wonder what he would have said? How would he have spoken of his ancestors. We know the ending of the Gospel, and Jesus as Messiah; how do we now live it out today.
Salaam and strength for our journey of life and faith.
Fred
chaos in the winds
scattering my troubled thoughts
to land on soft clouds MPL 2022